JAELYN
If you talk to Jaelyn Lega about her interests for any extended period, odds are that sports will come up at some point.
“Playing sports is one of the very few things that I love to do,” Jaelyn says. “They teach you a lot about your wellbeing and your mental health.”
More specifically, Jaelyn loves basketball. She had been interested in the sport for years, but COVID had prevented her from getting further involved until this past year when she signed up for Free Play for Kids. She’s a regular at Free Play’s Friday afternoon basketball games, and her coaches rave about her enthusiasm and work ethic.
“It makes me happy,” Jaelyn says.
"Jaelyn is amazing,” says Cole Wijeyaratnam, Free Play’s Technical Director of Basketball. “She's one of the best kids we've ever had in the program.”
Her love for the sport goes beyond just enjoying playing the game casually though. Most of the kids coming to Free Play’s basketball games every Friday warm up by shooting three-pointers or playing one-on-one with their friends. Not Jaelyn. She can be found off to the side, practicing form shots, working on her overall game or specific skills.
“She's very gifted athletically and basketball-wise,” Cole says, “but I think what sets her apart is her love of basketball and how strong of a character she is.”
She can also be found picking her coach’s brains about what she can be working on to get better, or about basketball as a whole.
“She's always asking us questions,” Cole says. “About our experiences, what she can do to get better, what did we think about the recent stuff going on in the NBA or the WNBA.”
“She is a tenacious learner and that's what's going to take her farther than anybody."
Without Free Play, Jaelyn may not have had the opportunity to play and learn about basketball that she has now. Her family is sometimes not able to afford basketball camps that would be Jaelyn’s only outlet to play sports if Free Play were not to exist. Her mother, Tara Floyd, remarks on the positive difference being able to play basketball has had on Jaelyn.
"I see tremendous growth,” Tara says. “In her maturity level, in helping her confidence, it's helping her in every aspect of her life, I think.”
"I think [playing sports] is so valuable for [kids],” Tara says. “They learn skills that are transferable throughout the rest of their life, between working as a team, learning how to follow instructions, learning how to push yourself to become a better person, becoming a better player, learning how to be a leader. It's so important for kids to learn these things, and I think sport is the perfect way to do it."
Besides being able to play and be coached in an organized environment, with Free Play, she’s been able to get tickets to watch her beloved Edmonton Stingers play.
One of the Stingers’ biggest fans, Jaelyn also got to meet some of the team’s players, Jahmal Jones, Mathieu Kamba, and Adika Peter-McNeilly. Cole was surprised to see that Jaelyn was uncharacteristically quiet around her heroes, and he asked her why.
"She said, ‘Coach Cole, I was so nervous, I couldn’t.’” Cole remembers, smiling. “‘Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get it out."
Jaelyn is a studious hard worker who has thrown her heart and mind into the sport of basketball, and Free Play is a big reason that she’s been able to do so. And Free Play will continue to be that support going forward.
"We say basketball's 90% mental, 10% physical,” Cole says. “If you don't have a good head on your shoulders, you're not gonna go as far as you can, and that's what I love about Jaelyn.”
Written by Stefan Salegio
