Varsity Blues Women's Basketball

   Robyn comes to U of T from Vancouver, B.C. where she led York House School to the B.C. Provincial AA Championship as an all star in Grade 11 and earned best defensive player in the school's runner-up finish in Grade 12. She was selected to the Basketball Canada Centre for Performance at 13 and participated in that program for 3 years. She was selected for the B.C. U16 provincial team. Robyn is a versatile athlete with solid basketball skills and she has played positions from point guard to power forward and can guard all 5 positions. The 6 foot tall wing is an honour student receiving both athletic and academic scholarships entering UBC as a freshman in 2007 where she was a member of the 2008 CIS National Championship team. This summer, she will be playing basketball for the Canadian team competing in the 18th Maccabi Games in Israel.
    In addition to basketball, Robyn also competes in ultimate. As a member of the B.C. Provincial Ultimate team in Grade 12, she won the gold at the Canadian National Championships in 2007. In university, she played on the UBC Women's Ultimate team which won the North American Ultimate College Championship in 2008.   She was selected captain for the Canadian National Junior Women's Ultimate team that competed in the World's Tournament held in Vancouver last summer.
    Spending the last academic year away from varsity basketball, Robyn is very excited to be coming to U of T and hopes to contribute to the continued success of the Blues next year.

Hayley Max-Lino a 5'10" forward will be coming from Ottawa's Glebe Collegiate and the Gloucester Wolverines Club team to join the Varsity Blues next season. In high school Hayley was an honour role student since grade 9. She was a basketball City All-Star who led the Gryphons as a top scorer and team captain during her four years on the senior team. She also was a star and team captain on the touch football team which she led in touchdowns scored. The Wolverines are a consistent Division 1 OBA club team and Hayley has won many awards as an on court and off court leader for this successful squad from the Capital region.

Hayley has been accepted into the faculty of Physical Education and Health and is excited to be joining the Blues family.

Katelyn McConnell, a 5'9" guard from Sinclair S.S. in Whitby is looking forward to becoming a Varsity Blues team-member next season. Katelyn is an accomplished versatile athlete who has been named school Athlete of the Year in Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. She has been a captain of both the basketball and field lacrosse teams in her senior years as well as MVP in basketball, lacrosse and badminton. She has represented her school at the Ontario Athletic Leadership Camp.

Katelyn also has been a captain of the Durham Eclipse basketball team that has been an OBA first division team for her two seasons with the Junior team. With the Eclipse she has travelled to Vienna for an International tournament.

Alicia Van Kampen will travel down Highway 10 from Orangeville to join the Blues squad next year. Alicia is a 6'1" post from Westside Secondary School and the Oakville Vytis Break OBA club team.

Playing basketball for the Thunder, she was a District Champion and District All-Star for all four years and MVP of the District Final in '08. With Oakville, she was a provincial Juvenile Silver medalist in '08 and the '09 Junior team qualified for the OBA first division. Alicia was also a four time All-Star for her Westside volleyball team as well as competing in soccer, track and badminton during her highschool career.

As usual in all-star games it took a while for the teams to get a feel for their new team mates and find their shooting touch after two months away from real competition. After a low scoring first quarter the East team held a 16-13 lead but both teams opened up, improved their finish and the West took a 41-35 lead into half time. The East team made another run and pulled even at 58 after the third frame. Then in the final quarter, the East continued their run and went on to a 77-64 victory.

The East team was led by the two Varsity Blues All-Stars as Alaine Hutton was named Player of the Game with 20 points and 3 rebounds while Nicki Schutz had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals. Michele Belanger took over the East coaching reins in the middle of third quarter as Ottawa coach Andy Sparks had to leave to coach his club team.

An exciting 2008-09 season of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women's basketball will have a star-studded conclusion on Saturday, May 9 in the inaugural OUA All-Star Game to take place at RIM Park in Waterloo as part of the 2009 Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) Ontario Cup.

Twenty players who were named OUA all-stars or members of the all-rookie teams this past season will showcase their skills in a battle of East versus West. The East is led by its player of the year Alaine Hutton (Hamilton, Ont.) of the Toronto Varsity Blues, top rookie Abby Edmison (Carleton Place, Ont.) of the Royal Military College Paladins and defensive player of the year Tanya Perry (Barrie, Ont.) of the Carleton Ravens. Hutton will be joined by U of T teammate Nicki Schutz (Toronto, Ont.) as together they formed the most potent scoring duo in OUA this past regular season with a combined 754 points, or 34.3 points per game. The team is led by East Division coach of the year Andy Sparks of the OUA finalist Ottawa Gee-Gees.

The West also boasts a strong squad, including Dranadia Roc (Montreal, Que.) and Alisa Wulff (Pickering, Ont.), both members of the OUA champion Windsor Lancers. They will have a familiar bench boss in Chantal Vallée , who was named West Division coach of the year after leading the Lancers to the best regular season record (21-1) in OUA. Vallee also led Windsor to its! first appearance at the CIS national tournament. They will be joined by Western Mustangs guard Amanda Anderson (Dover Centre, Ont.) who led all West Division players averaging 16.1 points per game during the regular season.

The all-star showcase also marks a final opportunity for a trio of players to wear the uniforms of their respective teams. Sharlene Harding (Brampton, Ont.) of the Paladins, Laura MacCallum (Paris, Ont.) of the York Lions and Kathryn Verboom (Thunder Bay, Ont.) of the Lakehead Thunderwolves have completed their final year of CIS eligibility, and have one final opportunity to play alongside their peers. All three individuals have made their mark on their respective programs with Harding, a former Queen's Gael,! leading the Paladins in points and rebounds in 2008-09, MacCallum finishing her career as York's all-time leading scorer and Verboom placing ninth on the all-time Lakehead points list.

Mascots from the competing OUA schools will also be in attendance, and will showcase their basketball skills during halftime.

Tip off is set for 7 p.m. on May 9 at RIM Park in Waterloo. Admission is free of charge.

The OUA All-Star Game is being played in conjunction with the Under 17 and Under 19 Girls Ontario Basketball Provincial Championships. In all, 97 teams from across the province will be competing in the two age categories in a quest to have fun, play fair and to bring home a gold medal.

Darrah Bumstead	F	New Hamburg	Laurentian
Abby Edmison	G	St. Andrew	RMC
Sharlene Harding	F	Brampton	RMC
Jenny Hobbs	G	Burlington	Ryerson
Alaine Hutton	G	Hamilton	Toronto
Ines Jelic	F	London	Carleton
Laura MacCallum	G	Paris	York
Emilie Morasse	G	Quebec City	Ottawa
Tanya Perry	G	Barrie	Carleton
Nicki Schutz	F	Toronto	Toronto

Renata Adamczyk	F	Dundas	Laurier
Amanda Anderson	G	Dover Centre	Western
Kim Lee	G	Ajax	Waterloo
Tasia McKenna	G	Timberlea, N.S.	Lakehead
Kelly Moulden	G	Dundas	Western
Dranadia Roc	G	Montreal	Windsor
Taylor Smith	G	Hamilton	McMaster
Alisa Wulff	F	Pickering	Windsor
Kathryn Verboom	F	Thunder Bay	Lakehead
Kris Yallin	G	Port Colborne	Guelph

University of Toronto Varsity Blues Women's Basketball standouts Nicki Schutz and Tara Kinnear have signed with the Toronto Stealth, Canada's entry in the summer Women's Blue Chip Basketball League (WBCBL).

A 2008-09 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East first team All-Star, Schutz (Toronto) transferred to U of T after two years at the University of Winnipeg and made an immediate impact, finishing eighth in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) scoring with 16.5 points per game. She was also the second leading rebounder in the country with 11.7 boards per game.

Kinnear also transferred to U of T to complete her Master's Degree in Nutritional Science for the 2008-09 season after four years at St. Francis Xavier. The Kemptville, Ont. native was third on the Blues in scoring, averaging 11.1 points per game, and led the CIS in offensive rebounds this season. She also finished fourth in the OUA with 8.62 boards per game.

In addition to Schutz and Kinnear, Varsity Blues alumnus Laila Bellony (Toronto) has also signed with the Stealth. Bellony played three seasons for the Blues (2005-08) after a year at Texas Christian Junior College and a year at Dillard University in New Orleans. She played 64 games with U of T, and totaled 500 points and 335 boards.

The WBCBL provides highly competitive basketball for women age 20 and older. The competition level ranges from former college players to former National Women's Basketball League (NWBL) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) players and current international players.

In addition, the WBCBL has built a networking relationship with professional international basketball scouts and agents to broaden the possibility of higher-level professional jobs being offered.

The WBCBL runs from May through July. The Toronto Stealth kicks off their season on May 16 at 7:00pm when they take on the Detroit Dolphins at Ryerson University.