Garden River First Nation citizen bringing energy to Algoma hoops squad

By Sam Laskaris

GARDEN RIVER FIRST NATION – Sadie Grawbarger is enjoying her time with the Algoma University Thunderbirds.

Grawbarger, a member of Garden River First Nation in Northern Ontario, is in her third year of suiting up for the Algoma women’s basketball club.

She continues to live at home in her First Nation and makes the 20-minute drive to her university, located in Sault Ste. Marie.

“Being local was definitely a big positive for me,” Grawbarger, who is 20, said of her decision to attend Algoma.

A few other universities had expressed some interest in Grawbarger, while she was playing high school ball in Sault Ste. Marie for Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational.

“But none of them really followed through,” Grawbarger said of other schools. “And just looking at like the position that I was playing, they didn’t really need a player like me at the time. So, Algoma was kind of my first decision.”

Another reason Grawbarger chose to attend Algoma was because the team’s head coach at the time was Ryan Vetrie, who was also her coach with a local travel team.

“I did a lot of training with him,” Grawbarger said. “And he was a really key person in developing who I was as a player. He kind of talked me into coming to Algoma.”

But Grawbarger never played for Vetrie at the university ranks because just before her rookie season started, he made the switch and took over the head coaching duties for the Algoma men’s side.

The Thunderbirds won a handful of games in Grawbarger’s first two seasons with the club.

Though the Thunderbirds were winless after their first six regular-season outings, the team has a win from the Montreal tournament against Edmonton’s MacEwan University in early October.

“I think we definitely wanted to compete a lot more than we have in previous years,” Grawbarger said of her club’s expectations this season. “And when we looked at some of the teams, I think we definitely planned on wanting to get certain wins over certain teams. But I think with everyone just being super young, and what not, we knew it was kind of going to be a little bit of a challenge.”

Grawbarger, who is 5-foot-10, is one of Algoma’s tallest players. She’s primarily been utilized as a point guard but has played various positions this season.

Though the Thunderbirds are not enjoying much on-court success, Grawbarger said her game has been getting better.

“I would say I’ve definitely improved a lot,” she said. “And I think I’m just taking on a more different role being in my third year, being someone who just brings a lot of energy. And I’ve worked on being a lot more vocal. And I would say my skills have definitely developed, too.”

Grawbarger is following in the footsteps of her older sister Sophie, who was also a student/athlete in the university ranks.

The elder Grawbarger played hockey at the University of Toronto and graduated this past spring.

Though they played different sports, Grawbarger said her sister inspired her to go on to play sports at the post-secondary level.

“I’ve always looked up to her in that sense and we’ve always played sports our whole life,” she said. “So, when she did that, we definitely had a lot of conversations about it and it was something that I definitely did want to do.”

Grawbarger is studying psychology at Algoma, also eyeing a possible career in policing.

“I’m really interested in forensic psychology,” she said. “So, I might look into doing something like that.”