“I still have more to give”

John, when we talk about sports in Granby, you are part of the furniture. Where does your passion for basketball come from?

It all started in primary school, at Saint-André school. I was a little guy who really needed to move and when Robert Marcotte, the physical education teacher, introduced us to basketball, I was hooked straight away. Time to say it, we had installed a chair at home with a hole in a tree and it served as a basket! And since I didn’t have a basketball, I played with a soccer ball!

In what year did you begin your basketball coaching career?

With CEGEP, I started in 1991 after being convinced by Sophie Labrie, who was the best player I had the opportunity to coach over the years and probably the best player ever produced in Granby in short. But I already had coached at the Verbe Divin, at J.-H.-Leclerc, at Haute-Ville (Sacré-Cœur at the time) previously. But I had the impression that the step was too high, that I did not have the necessary knowledge to work at the college level. Fortunately, there were plenty of people around me to help me, starting with Jacques Demers, my mentor.

Do you remember that first season?

Oh yes! I remember that we lost our second home game 105-25 in Sherbrooke and that I was discouraged. But the girls were proud and they worked and worked to improve. After our royal defeat, we suggested that the girls just play five-on-five in the gym once a week and have fun. One of them, Isabelle Beauregard, stood up and said: “If that’s it, I’m coming!” I want to improve and I’m not going to improve like that!” We finally worked hard and at the end of the season, we beat another team that had humiliated us earlier in the season by 18 points. I was proud.

Your fondest memory, I imagine, is winning bronze at the provincial championship in 2000?

Probably. But the most beautiful memories, ultimately, remain human relationships. But it’s true that we had a great team in 2000. Quickly, I think of Carolyne Beaudry, Geneviève Scott, Karine Arès… My brother Paul and Jacques Demers were my assistants.

You are entering your 25th year of coaching. Have young people changed a lot since time?

They have changed, yes. Obviously, I know the girls more. In fact, young people are different, but not in a negative sense. We have to listen to them more, explain things to them more because they ask more questions than before. They are more fragile too. I am more of a “dad” with them today than I was with the young people back in the day.

Is recruiting more difficult?

“Yes. But you know, Michel, we struggle with so many sports. The girls now play hockey, there’s handball, there’s volleyball, there’s lots of stuff. Not to mention cell phones! But that’s another story…”

— John Van Doorn

You coached your son Matthew through high school. He was one of the very good players at the college level in Granby.

He had a very good career with the Inouk. He continued with the Bishop’s University Gaiters, but it was more difficult. I passed on my passion for basketball to him, I still remember how difficult it was to get him into the house at the end of the evening because he never wanted to stop playing!

Tell me about your team this season! Does that bode well?

I think so. We have 10 players, which is already much better than the only seven we had last season. I will never forget that we lost a game by default last winter because I only had three healthy players. But hey, I’m banking on five veterans in 2024-2025 and there is talent, depth. Also, the girls are engaged.

You will be 60 at the beginning of January. Do you see yourself continuing for a long time?

I still have more to give and I still have a lot of fun. And I don’t want to sound pretentious, but I still love the idea of ​​making a small difference in the lives of the young people I lead. In addition, my assistant, Jason Arès Saint-Onge, is extremely involved, I feel like I have a lot less on my shoulders. In short, the conditions are winning. And health is still there.

The Indigo of women’s and men’s basketball (the boys are led by Carl Audet and Jimmy Lebel) will be in Drummondville next Wednesday before hosting the Sherbrooke Seminar two days later.