Surreal was a word used a lot when St. Catharines native, and current Brock Badger, Madalyn Weinert was asked about winning a gold medal last weekend with Team Canada at GlLOBL JAM in Toronto.
The Canadians defeated Team USA, featuring the Texas Longhorns. 75-62.
“It was a pretty surreal moment to be there, be in the environment with the team, and to win in the end especially after having lost to Texas on the Thursday night (70-61). It was a pretty great game and pretty amazing to come out with that win,” said the 21-year old Weinert.
As for donning a Team Canada jersey for the first time.
“It was super surreal, it was a moment that i didn’t know if i would ever be able to have and so there was a immense amount of gratitude and just pride for the community that has backed me through the whole four years leading into my fifth year (with the Brock Badgers) and i think that was one of the if not the best part of the whole experience was seeing the texts the messages even the strangers come up to me that were parents in the OUA (Ontario University Athletics) or had daughters that they had brought to watch just to congratulate me but not only me but the team as a whole, it was just a surreal experience,” the reigning , and two-straight OUA Player of the Year went on to explain.
And while Weinert is entering her final year of University eligibility, Wheeler is entering her final year of High School, playing out of Niagara Prep in Niagara Falls.
The 17-year old has represented Canada in the past, but this time was one of the youngest players in the tournament.
“I would say that this experience was so much different than my other ones, being so much younger than everyone else but honestly like it was just so great to learn from all the older girls,” Wheeler said. “They helped me through practices and everything. There’s an Olympian on the team so I learned so much, it was just such a great experience to be able to be a part of the team and to be able to be a part of the team.”
Wheeler, who has accepted an NCAA scholarship next season to Stanford University in California, can’t wait to see what’s next on her basketball journey and was quick to thank a few very important people along the way.
“My parents, my entire family, grandparents, all of my teammates and coaches that have been with me throughout my whole Team Canada experience over the past couple years. I’m excited to see what’s next.”
Weinert offered this:
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“I’d love to thank like my teammates they made the trek out there, a couple of the (Badgers) men’s team made the trek, my parents obviously were there a whole bunch, my uncle and my grandparents, so yeah just really the community that has really backed and supported me throughout not only my time at Brock but especially in this time with Team Canada.”
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
