Personal Statement
"I believe basketball has opened up many doors for me, both athletically but academically. It has increased my athletic effectiveness, but also my ability to assess certain situations as you would in a classroom or in a workplace. Now, I want to find a school that will continue to develop my game, but also help me succeed inside the classroom and in life after college.
I have played high-level basketball – along with soccer – since the age of six, usually with teams older than my age group. I enjoy being active, whether its playing basketball, soccer, running, volleyball … just about any sport that allows me to be competitive.
I am a very competitive person, on and off the court. I always want to find ways to improve my game as well as my marks. At the moment I hold a 3.2 GPA, and I feel there is much room to improve. I always aim to raise my GPA, as I do my basketball IQ.
I believe my basketball strengths are my ball-handling skills, my vision on the court, my athleticism, my ability to shoot, and my leadership, on and off the court. And my speed and quickness. I always try to encourage my teammates and ensure they know what has to be done while playing. I am easy to coach. I am not the type of player that needs to have things repeated over and over in order for me to understand.
My goal is to attend a college that will push me athletically and academically. I want to feel comfortable on the court and in the classroom. I want to leave college a better person because of my experiences there."
Media
Google search / Use variations of the following words: alaina mcmillan sports basketball soccer
CV
UPDATES ... In Grade 10, was starter for Silver Medal winning St. John's College at OFSSA basketball finals, provincial championships in Ontario, Canada. Leading scorer with 15 points in quarter-final win over St. Joseph's of Toronto ... Earlier in November 2015, St. John's won both the Brantford city and CWOSSA regional titles, going undefeated ... Received Honour Roll award from St. John's College for over 80 per cent average in Grade 9. .... Had five three-pointers against St. Thomas More in semi-final win for St. John's College of St. Mary's Tipoff Class D1 senior girls basketball ... Averaging 15 points and five steals, and six assists as starter for St. John's College senior girls team in 2015 ... Led all point scorers as 14-year-old, Grade 10, in senior championship run for St. John's at Purple and White tournament in 2015 in London, Ontario ... As point guard for Hamilton Transway JUEL Prep squad, coaches' pick to all-star team at Cha Cha Cha exposure event in in September 2015 ...
Basketball
Started playing basketball at age 6 with Briers program in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. At 7 she was on the U10 Briers rep team.
At 8 switched to Brantford CYO club team, played two years of novice, then moved up an age group with older girls for U11 Atom and U12 Major Ato
(From Tony Madia , her former coach with Brantford CYO Falcons Under-12 Major Atom rep girls basketball: “Alaina is a girl who can put a smile on anyone’s face. When you meet her, you notice this outgoing, beautiful little girl with a big heart and a bundle of energy. Put her on a basketball court and just watch the fireworks. She is a talented player who can change a game with her quickness and speed. Coaching Alaina is a pleasure – enormously funny and a skilled little firecracker of a player.”)
Returned to her own age group after that, played another year of Major Atom, then Bantam the following season. Her Brantford CYO bantam girls 2012-2013 Division 1 team moved from #5 ranking in Ontario to #2. The team’s successful season saw them jump up from an initial #5 ranking, winning two gold medals, two silvers and a bronze in tournaments along the way.
Invited by Ontario U14 provincial coach Gord Everett to play for his summer U12 AAU team, CC Elite, she enjoyed tremendous success there, as the squad won U.S. tournaments at Syracuse Pre-Nationals, Slippery Rock Jamfest 2013,, and Lake Erie Shootout 2013 in Fredonia. Their record: Unblemished at 13-0, culminated by a tense 43-42 championship game win at the Syracuse Pre-Nationals over Cleveland SMAC Elite.
Previously, for three straight years, she was selected for the Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) Tri-County Bantam (Under-13) elite basketball development program, and was the youngest participant for the first two years.
She was one of 10 Tri-County players selected to move on to OBA’s week-long elite development camp held at Georgian College in Barrie.
The following club season, she left the Brantford CYO organization to join Everett and his OBA Major Bantam D1 team in Caledon. She had a tremendous season as Caledon Cougars’ starting point guard in the Grade 8 league. She also was selected to participate in Ontario Basketball’s Centre for Performance (CP), a nationally established program designed to develop athletes for the purpose of competing at the international basketball level.
(At the season-ending Caledon banquet, she was presented with the prestigious Player of the Year award from the basketball organization, finishing ahead of three other nominees. Attended by over 600 players, coaches, and parents, these words were spoken by coach Everett: "Alaina McMillan averaged 17.5 total scoring points per game, including 11.5 points, four steals and 2.5 assists. She constantly put her body on the line in traffic and encouraged contact in the lane. She routinely answered the call when a big basket or big play was needed for a victory, sparked the team during scoring droughts, or knocked down free throws with no time left on the clock.”)
The following summer, she played above her age group for Blue Star Ontario, competing in U15 AAU tournaments in Chicago and Cincinnati. She was coached by Richard Nurse.
Next, going into her first year of high school, she was asked to play varsity ball, bypassing the junior squad. As the only Grade 9 player on the team, she finished the year as a starter at St. John’s College in Brantford, Ontario. The team won the Brantford city high school championship, CWOSSA regional championship and finished second in the Ontario AAA girls Division 1, losing in the OFSAA championship game to St. Mary’s of Hamilton, Ontario.
Additionally, following the fall high school season, she transferred from Caledon and made the Hamilton Transway JUEL Prep club team, in the best women’s competitive league in Canada. The squad, again coached by Richard Nurse, father of Kia Nurse, starting guard for NCAA Division 1 champion UConn, and a mainstay of Canada’s national squad that topped the U.S. at the 2015 Pan Am Games, finished in first place in the JUEL Prep league, which is made up of 2017 and 2018-aged players. Transway went on to win the league title as well, going undefeated in a weekend championship series at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.
In the summer of 2015, she again played AAU ball and was starting point guard for the Blue Star Ontario U15 team that competed at the USJN Three Rivers Challenge in Pittsburgh, the Premier Invitational/Midwest in Cincinnati, NIKE National Invitational in Chicago and USJN/Nike 15U-12U National Championships in Washington, D.C.
Soccer:
Followed a similar path with soccer, until making a commitment to basketball as her number one sport heading into Grade 9. (Scheduling conflicts with the high-level teams require full-time commitment in Canada.)
She does, however, continue to play soccer, but basketball always comes first.
At 7, she was playing on the Brantford Under-10 BICs girls rep team.
Then moved to Brantford City A rep where she played one season with her own age group in the Premier division, winning the MJ Cup along the way. (MJ stands for Hamilton and District Multi-Jurisdictional Soccer Club League).
Then she moved up an age group and played two years with the U11 and U12 Brantford City teams.
(From David Spadorcia, her former coach with Brantford City Under-12 rep girls soccer team: “Alaina is probably our most energetic player. She is fearless; she always comes ready to play. Alaina has a competitive spirit; she always wants the ball in important situations. My assistant likes to refer to her as ‘The Bumblebee’ because she is always buzzing around trying to create something. I see great things in her future.”)
Then, she returned to her own age group and played another season of U12, this time in the Premier division.
In 2012, while playing for her club team in Brantford, she was the only Brantford player selected as a member of the District U12 girls team out of Hamilton. (The Hamilton District Soccer Association represents soccer organizations from communities including Brantford, Glanbrook, Stoney Creek, Ancaster, Dundas and Hamilton.)
Following the District program, she was invited to move up and train with the Region 2 U13 girls soccer squad, which selects players from District teams in Hamilton and District SA, Niagara SA, Peel-Halton SA. The various regional teams, and there are seven, eventually feed the U14 provincial Ontario Soccer Association provincial team for next year. There is no U13 age-group provincial team.
For the 2013 outdoor soccer season, she switched club teams, moving from Brantford City A of the Premier (or second division) to Ancaster Titans of the Elite (or top division) in the South Region Soccer League.
She was the leading scorer for both years she played in Ancaster, culminating with an Ontario Cup championship victory in her second season there. In year number two with Ancaster, although playing only half a season due to basketball commitments, she nevertheless took top scoring honours, with 9 goals in 8 games. (The second-place scorer on her team had 5 goals in 14 games).
In high school, despite being in Grade 9, she made the varsity squad at St. John’s College in Brantford. That team won the Brantford city championship, the CWOSSA regional championship, then finished fourth in the province of Ontario AAA girls Division 1 (OFSAA). She led her team in goal scoring in the OFSAA tournament, held in Windsor ON.
Other
Sprinter. Anchored two 4X100 championship schoolgirl teams in Brantford. Volleyball (Her midget team at St. John’s College won the Brantford high school championship in 2015) … loves art, music and dance. (Has been a featured dancer at the Latin Village at the Brantford International Villages Festival).
Coaching contacts
Richard Nurse: Hamilton Transway JUEL Prep and Blue Star Ontario coach / [email protected]
Steve Vanleeuwen: St. John’s College varsity basketball coach / [email protected]
Gord Everett: Caledon Cougars/CC Elite coach and former U14 Ontario coach / [email protected]
