It seemed like Madison Anthony and Amelia Furst would miss the Alberta Summer Games. Then a random encounter between coaches at a Boston Pizza in Okotoks gave them a second chance to play for Zone 2 in Leduc this month.
The girls play basketball in Olds – Anthony for Deer Meadow School and Furst at Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS). They are friends and teammates on the U-13 girls team from the Airdrie-based club, SC Elite, coached by Madison's father Stephen Anthony.
From July 14-17 in Leduc, they will play as U-14s for Zone 2, coached by Randy Peron.
The girls almost missed out.
In 13-year-old Furst's case, trouble finding Games information resulted in missing the tryouts.
For 12-year-old Madison, her dad wasn't sure if she was ready for the Games, considering she would have been a sixth-grader playing against kids in grades 7-9. However, she ended up showing interest in them anyway.
That's when Stephen and Peron ran into each other at BPs in Okotoks while SC Elite was participating in a tournament in Black Diamond.
"Randy had some commitment issues with a couple of girls and because of our chance meeting at Boston Pizza, he called me and said, 'Is your daughter still interested? I have a spot for her,'" Stephen said.
"He confirmed that the one girl wasn't able to continue and asked Madison to come out for a run with the team to evaluate her. After that weekend, he had somebody else that couldn't commit. He called me back and asked if (I had) somebody else that would be a good fit."
Stephen recommended Furst, who took that spot.
While Furst is quiet and shy, Anthony is a more enthusiastic conversationalist. Furst is a point guard. Anthony plays the wing and in the post. Both are the best players on their respective school teams and have dreams to play beyond high school.
The Furst name is familiar to those in Olds, as her parents are Ed and Melissa, pastors of the local Home Church.
Their daughter took up basketball in Grade 7 after previously playing soccer. A year later, this was her second season playing on the OKCS Grade 9 girls team, acting as the primary ball handler while still the youngest on the roster.
One of the factors in her decision to make basketball her No.1 sport has been Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. Not only did she enjoy watching the NBA's two-time most valuable player, but Furst also admired his open Christian faith. Like Curry, she has the verse Philippians 4:13 written on her shoes.
She is in the middle of her first season with SC Elite.
"Part of the reason we wanted to do it was, we wanted Stephen Anthony's coaching. We wanted her to learn from him. And there's a couple girls we can carpool with because it's been a big commitment driving," Melissa said.
With Anthony, the game runs in the family. Stephen has coached the men's team at the college and her team at Deer Meadow School.
"My family's always really been into basketball. My dad always coached or played or refereed so I got really interested in that. It's kind of like a crazy basketball family and I wanted to learn how to play," she said.
Born in 2004, Anthony will be one of the few athletes in Leduc who will get to participate in the Alberta Summer Games a second time, when the games are held two years from now.
She likes to travel and is looking forward to the Zone team's outing in Kamloops.
"It means a lot. I think it's pretty cool to have that opportunity to play in the Summer Games. A lot of friends I have are on the team," she said.
As is the case when playing clubs, the Alberta Summer Games will give them competition they wouldn't see with their school teams. Stephen said he likes both girls' chances of playing basketball, or any sport, at the collegiate level. And thanks to that unexpected meeting, they now get the opportunity to show it.
"Randy had some commitment issues with a couple of girls and because of our chance meeting at Boston Pizza, he called me and said, 'Is your daughter still interested? I have a spot for her.'" STEPHEN ANTHONY
