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About six months ago, Trevor Costello, the wiry coach of the Algonquin College men’s basketball team, was refereeing an alumni tournament in Hammond — “out in the sticks” — when one player caught his eye.
He was a mountain of a man, balding with grey stubble, but equipped with court smarts. And Costello wondered, crazily: could this aging giant be lured to play for the Algonquin Thunder?
A hint was dropped and it set Dan Stoddard on a mission, the fulfilment of a dream he’d set aside in high school. “C’mon. I’m 38 years old, going to be 39 in November. I’m absolutely out of my mind, right?”
Yes, 38 and, at the time, six feet, eight inches tall and weighing 380 pounds, with a full-time job at OC Transpo, two teenage kids at home and a house in Russell that needed new siding.
There are Hoop Dreams, there is Hoosiers, and there is Dan Stoddard, the real thing. Spurred by Costello’s offer, he began to work out two hours a day at the OC Transpo fitness centre, consulted a personal trainer, used a buddy’s home gym. He got the Thunder practice schedule and meshed it with his driving duties at OC.
OC Transpo driver Dan Stoddard back in 2016.
He showed up for tryouts with about 55 other players — now about 50 pounds lighter — and promptly made the team. “Well, it’s awesome,” said Costello. “The guy made it happen. He just made it happen.”
There he was at practice one night this week, all 320 pounds, doing suicide sprints, setting picks, running offensive drills and blocking shots. Around him ran 20 younger players, some tattooed, some wearing black compression tights, some with paintbrush hair-tops, most with chests lean as plywood.
Shoes squeaked on hardwood, coaches barked to the rafters — Stoddard, puffing more than most, was in heaven. An online student with a full course load, he told us about a basket he scored during an exhibition game against a Quebec team.
“We played an exhibition game against last year’s national champs,” he said Wednesday, cooling down after practice. “I scored a basket, they called out my name (on a loud speaker) and I could have cried on the floor.”
A rookie at age 38, it wasn’t just two points, was it? “These guys will know what it means in 20 years.”
He knows how odd it must look to opposing players. (Not only is he 38, he has the misfortune, if you will, of looking even older.)
“I hear the laughter,” he said, referring to an exhibition game in particular. “I walk down the hallway and they’re laughing, going, ‘Look at the old guy, look at the old guy,’ ” adding, however, “It’s not quite as funny when we beat them.”
Point guard Ernest Tolete, 23, was a little mystified when Stoddard turned up for tryouts. “To be honest, I thought he was a friend of Coach’s, just coming out to run with us.”
Now he sees him as an equal teammate, with a role to play as a low-post man who does “the detail” things and understands the game’s mental side, concentrating on the unglamorous work of pick-and-rolls, rebounding and making the right pass.
Of whether the older man has taught him something? “You can still love something, regardless of how old you are.”
Stoddard certainly has a fan in Costello, a fixture around the Algonquin program for 25 years, but one who has never coached a Thunder player quite this old.
Dan Stoddard is a 38-year-old OC Transpo bus driver who has always wanted to go back to college and make the basketball team. He now studies at Algonquin College and plays for the Algonquin Thunder.
He finds it remarkable Stoddard was able to whip himself into shape while holding down a full-time job, being a father and taking on a full course load.
“After every practice, he’s always thanking me, saying, ‘Thanks for letting me live my dream,”’ said the coach, who jokes that Stoddard should be driving the team bus.
A native of Casselman, Stoddard played at St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School in Hammond until his final year, when he lost his spot on the team because of academic slippage.
Then he was married at 20, his first child was born, and basketball took a back seat to life. In the ensuing years, he coached here and there as a volunteer and only played sporadically.
He suited up for the OC Transpo team at a tournament in Montreal earlier this year. It was a turning point. “I was probably the most upset I’ve ever been playing basketball. I was so out-of-shape, I couldn’t even run.”
With the alumni tournament coming up, he started working out, shedding pounds, improving his cardio. Then came the chance encounter with Costello on the gym floor. So he got to work, hoping to set an example for this children, who have started an Instagram account (oldmandan24) to go with the Old Man Dan Fan Club.
“Success begins with self-belief,” he says, using a simple truism he hopes to instil in other players. “And I believe in myself 1,000 per cent, all day long.”
And how is the OC driver turned ancient college rookie spending the weekend? He’s boarding a bus on Friday for the season opener road trip to Barrie, where the points and stats will hardly matter.
Old Man Dan has already won.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com.
twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
He was a mountain of a man, balding with grey stubble, but equipped with court smarts. And Costello wondered, crazily: could this aging giant be lured to play for the Algonquin Thunder?
A hint was dropped and it set Dan Stoddard on a mission, the fulfilment of a dream he’d set aside in high school. “C’mon. I’m 38 years old, going to be 39 in November. I’m absolutely out of my mind, right?”
Yes, 38 and, at the time, six feet, eight inches tall and weighing 380 pounds, with a full-time job at OC Transpo, two teenage kids at home and a house in Russell that needed new siding.
There are Hoop Dreams, there is Hoosiers, and there is Dan Stoddard, the real thing. Spurred by Costello’s offer, he began to work out two hours a day at the OC Transpo fitness centre, consulted a personal trainer, used a buddy’s home gym. He got the Thunder practice schedule and meshed it with his driving duties at OC.
OC Transpo driver Dan Stoddard back in 2016.
He showed up for tryouts with about 55 other players — now about 50 pounds lighter — and promptly made the team. “Well, it’s awesome,” said Costello. “The guy made it happen. He just made it happen.”
There he was at practice one night this week, all 320 pounds, doing suicide sprints, setting picks, running offensive drills and blocking shots. Around him ran 20 younger players, some tattooed, some wearing black compression tights, some with paintbrush hair-tops, most with chests lean as plywood.
Shoes squeaked on hardwood, coaches barked to the rafters — Stoddard, puffing more than most, was in heaven. An online student with a full course load, he told us about a basket he scored during an exhibition game against a Quebec team.
“We played an exhibition game against last year’s national champs,” he said Wednesday, cooling down after practice. “I scored a basket, they called out my name (on a loud speaker) and I could have cried on the floor.”
A rookie at age 38, it wasn’t just two points, was it? “These guys will know what it means in 20 years.”
He knows how odd it must look to opposing players. (Not only is he 38, he has the misfortune, if you will, of looking even older.)
“I hear the laughter,” he said, referring to an exhibition game in particular. “I walk down the hallway and they’re laughing, going, ‘Look at the old guy, look at the old guy,’ ” adding, however, “It’s not quite as funny when we beat them.”
Point guard Ernest Tolete, 23, was a little mystified when Stoddard turned up for tryouts. “To be honest, I thought he was a friend of Coach’s, just coming out to run with us.”
Now he sees him as an equal teammate, with a role to play as a low-post man who does “the detail” things and understands the game’s mental side, concentrating on the unglamorous work of pick-and-rolls, rebounding and making the right pass.
Of whether the older man has taught him something? “You can still love something, regardless of how old you are.”
Stoddard certainly has a fan in Costello, a fixture around the Algonquin program for 25 years, but one who has never coached a Thunder player quite this old.
Dan Stoddard is a 38-year-old OC Transpo bus driver who has always wanted to go back to college and make the basketball team. He now studies at Algonquin College and plays for the Algonquin Thunder.
He finds it remarkable Stoddard was able to whip himself into shape while holding down a full-time job, being a father and taking on a full course load.
“After every practice, he’s always thanking me, saying, ‘Thanks for letting me live my dream,”’ said the coach, who jokes that Stoddard should be driving the team bus.
A native of Casselman, Stoddard played at St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School in Hammond until his final year, when he lost his spot on the team because of academic slippage.
Then he was married at 20, his first child was born, and basketball took a back seat to life. In the ensuing years, he coached here and there as a volunteer and only played sporadically.
He suited up for the OC Transpo team at a tournament in Montreal earlier this year. It was a turning point. “I was probably the most upset I’ve ever been playing basketball. I was so out-of-shape, I couldn’t even run.”
With the alumni tournament coming up, he started working out, shedding pounds, improving his cardio. Then came the chance encounter with Costello on the gym floor. So he got to work, hoping to set an example for this children, who have started an Instagram account (oldmandan24) to go with the Old Man Dan Fan Club.
“Success begins with self-belief,” he says, using a simple truism he hopes to instil in other players. “And I believe in myself 1,000 per cent, all day long.”
And how is the OC driver turned ancient college rookie spending the weekend? He’s boarding a bus on Friday for the season opener road trip to Barrie, where the points and stats will hardly matter.
Old Man Dan has already won.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com.
twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
