Uzodinma Ukagwu | Sports Editor
Featured Image: Lions’ guard, Lauren Golding, leading her team’s attack. | Courtesy of York Lions
Lions women’s basketball forward, Lauren Golding, will be one of the leaders on her team next season, having just finished her second season. She considers herself “lucky” to have the opportunity to play basketball at an elite level, but is also proud of her achievements so far, including grabbing the second-most rebounds in the OUA this season.
She and her teammates pulled off a surprise win in their quarter-final game against Queens, their first playoff win since the 2007-08 season. Her favourite part of that game was having the team’s travelling fans run on to the court after the buzzer went off. “I believe York has the best fans in the OUA. Our athletic department had managed to put together a fan bus last minute for us and I truly believe that their support helped us tremendously,” she says.
On the team’s chances next season, she expressed excitement, and believes they show “great potential,” having played together for a few years now.
Golding has a very busy summer ahead, as she will be working two jobs, one of them with Layup Youth Basketball, running a summer basketball camp for kids. She will also be taking a summer course at York, attending team practices, and doing on-court workouts with her coaches.
Golding has an amazing support system that allows her to combine her academics with her basketball career. Student Accessibility Services has helped her manage her learning disability, and her professors have been accommodating. “They have always been gracious and understanding with basketball conflicts,” she says.
Her roommate, Madison Bardoel, has always been on hand to encourage her to get her school work done, and her team has study sessions together twice a week. The PAWS Mentorship program, she also says, has immensely helped her “transition from high school to university.”
When she has some downtime on her hands, she runs back to Windsor, her hometown, to spend time with family and friends, and get in some home-cooked meals. She says; “Family has always been a priority for me because they have been there through the hard times and have supported me.”
Golding is not sure what her favourite on-court moment is, but she lists a few, including: “Lindsay Shotbolt’s football pass last year, full-court to Chante Clarke for a wide open layup, Emma Jonas had two four-point plays in one game, getting and-ones on two three-pointers, Cyanna King’s monster blocks, my back-to-back game winning three-pointers against Ryerson, and of course the amazing team win we had upsetting Queen’s, making it to second round.”
Golding describes her game day in detail: “A typical game day for me is waking up early, going to shoot around in the gym with my teammates, eating a good meal, taking a power snooze and getting taped. My favourite part is getting hyped in the locker room right before warm-up with my team by playing loud music. It lightens the mood and gets rid of any nerves I might have before the game.”
She is determined to play professionally when she is done at York, and she believes she has the potential to do so. “It will just be a matter of putting my mind to it.”
