(Fellowes High School photo)
Schools and communities across Renfrew County are being thrust into the spotlight as the landscape of high school athletics in Ontario changes.
As Pembroke’s Fellowes High School hosts next week’s OFSAA “AA” Boys Basketball Tournament, Renfrew coach and OFSAA committee member Adam Noack says the push by Fellowes Coach Pat Childerhose to bring the competition to the Ottawa Valley is a testament to the hard work that smaller, more rural communities are capable of doing as hosts.
The OFSAA championships are the Ottawa Valley’s second high-profile tournament for school basketball in the last few weeks, as Noack’s Renfrew Collegiate Institute hosted the EOSSAA Jr. Boys “A” Tournament in late February.
Noack says there has been a push to get Eastern Ontario’s smaller communities more involved in hosting provincial and regional tournaments as larger destinations continue a growing trend of turning those opportunities down post-COVID.
Continuing to impress OFSAA and EOSSAA officials as hosts could also open the door for the Ottawa Valley to be a major player for other sports under their umbrellas.
The action gets underway inside Fellowes High School this Monday, March 8th, with games running through to the gold medal finals that Wednesday, March 11th. Find the full schedule on the OFSAA website.
(written by Kasey Egan)