WELLINGTON: Deciding where she wanted to play the sport she loves after high school wasn’t one that Emma Foye rushed into making.
After discussions with some Maritime schools and them not working out how she had hoped, Foye took a step back to re-evaluate what it was that she wanted academically. When that decision was made, so was the choice where the Wellington product would be playing.
“After a long conversation on the phone, I had quickly decided that it was the perfect fit for me all along and within the next week I had let them I had made my mind up,” Foye told The Laker News.
That “it” is the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics women’s basketball team, coached by Mark Forward.
It also helped as a great selling point that former Lockview High Lady Dragon teammate Ashleigh Marshall had just announced her commitment to the Mystics.
“In the two years of Lockview basketball which I got to play alongside Ash we grew a very strong connection on and off the court,” said Foye, who will be studying Biology at the Mount.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to play with her again and continue that connection.”
The first elite team Foye played for was the Mercury Elite, which was run through the Mount.
“Through this I was lucky to watch several Mystic games and had the opportunity to scrimmage with Mount players (some of them currently coach Div. 1 high school teams) while occasionally being coached by Mark,” she said.
“It’s almost as if it was meant to be and having Ashleigh by my side again, I really couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”
She said having chats with Forward a few times as she made up her mind set her mind at ease that the Mystics were the right choice. It also helps that she will be just a 20-minute drive from home.
“I’ve grown to love his coaching techniques as well as the overall atmosphere of the Mount Campus,” she said. “After my chat with Mark I had realized how good of a fit the Mount was for me.”
Foye said the recruiting process was much different then she imagined, the bulk of that due to COVID19 restrictions.
“I had always dreamed of coaches coming to watch me play, then pulling me aside after the game to discuss how they would like me to come play for them in post secondary,” said Foye. “This year since no spectators were allowed, the players were expected to reach out to the schools which they were interested in and send game tape.
“This made it difficult for me as I didn’t really realize how many options there were.”
Reflecting on how everything went down, Foye is happy.
“Although the recruiting process wasn’t what any of us had imagined it to be, I wouldn’t trade it for the world as it ended up working out so well for me.”
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