A basketball champ, on and off the court

The overwhelming pressure from hundreds of eyes watching your every move is just what some people need to excel.
This was the case for six-foot basketball player and AUS all star, Katherine Walters, from Charlottetown, who played five years with the UPEI Panthers.
Walters started playing basketball when she was in Grade 7, an awkward adolescent who never stepped on the court.
The then 5-11 soccer player was hesitant when a coach approached her and asked if she ever played basketball. She hadn’t but thought she might try.
Her parents’ influence was also a factor. They agreed it would be a positive way to spend her time after school.
The early morning workouts at Queen Charlotte were not the best part, and didn’t help Walter’s self-esteem about the sport.
“I was absolutely horrible,” she said.
Once she got more comfortable with the game, basketball soon became one of Walters’ favourite hobbies, and the hesitation that was once there changed to excitement and fascination.
She played throughout high school and immediately moved up to university.
“It was amazing playing in front of the community and my family and friends.”
Walters said she loved the team she played with as well, and they all got very close.
“In the end, we were just like sisters.”
One of Walters’ best games was also her first. It was in UNB for the AUS championships at the St. Mary’s gym. Accompanying her were her two best friends, Lindsay and Katie, who were also on the team. She said the three of them played so well together, and that game they were all having great karma.
“Katie was getting tons of three-pointers and Lindsay and I must have gotten 18 or 19 rebounds each. It was awesome,” she said with a big smile.
No matter where the team traveled, they always had a great time together, Walter’s said.
“We would just do ridiculous things, we could have fun wherever we were.”
In her fifth and final year, Walters won the AUS all-star award for being an outstanding post. Although it was an “awesome” feeling to get such recognition, she said the award should really go to the whole team, because without them, she wouldn’t have been able to do her job.
“I felt like an honoured individual, but it takes the whole team to win, not just one person.”
Now that Walters’ five years eligibility for university level is up, she has mixed emotions. She said she is relieved from the emotional and physical pressure, which drained her, but at the same time she was devastated to move away from the bonds she made with the team.
To replace the time basketball would usually take up, Walters did some recruiting for UPEI, which she said was exhausting. She got to travel all around Canada to look for star players, but she said the traveling killed her.
She is now the assistant coach for the Holland Hurricane’s. She said the transition from player to coach is a challenge because as a player you are always wondering why your coach tells you to do certain things, but you just have to learn to trust them.
“They’re there for you through thick and thin and everything they do is in their best interest.”
Walters said she didn’t realize that until she started coaching, and now she can’t wait to see the players do everything they are learning.
Kathy Murray, former UPEI player and current head coach of the Holland College women’s basketball team, said the hardest transition from player to coach is not being able to get on the floor and help the team.
“Whether it’s defense, making a screen, or blocking a shot, it’s hard because I can’t actually get on the floor and do something.”
In an assistant coach, Murray looks for commitment, communication, and basketball knowledge.
“I’m lucky I have an assistant coach who has already played high level basketball and doesn’t need training for many things.”
Although Walters is already highly knowledgeable about basketball, Murray hopes to pass down her ability to run a practice efficiently, including things like making subs and when to call time outs.
Murray coached the second Canada games and Holland College basketball for three years. She has also helped coach the P.E.I. high performance basketball camps. She hasn’t seen many female coaches, but hopes to see that change. She has already got three younger females involved in coaching, and hopes that more are interested.
“I think it’s important to have females coaching females.”
Walters is one of the people Murray got involved in coaching, but it may not last as long as Murray’s coaching career.
In the future Walters’ plans to get in shape again and possibly go pro in Europe.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m done, I’m just at a stage in my life where I have to figure everything out,” she said.
She said a degree in business administration also looks like a possibility in her future.