14 Wing men win CAF championship in first ever nationals
“Super lucky” is one thing, but 14 Wing Greenwood’s men’s basketball team worked hard to take full advantage of a “right time, right place” season and win the Canadian Armed Forces championship in their first ever appearance at the tournament.
“Walking away from regionals in 2023, no one could have expected us to win regionals this year, then nationals,” says head coach Alyssa DeAdder, 14 Wing’s Personnel Support Program sports coordinator. Then, the team was injured, missed out on the regional final and faced the roster churn of the posting season heading into 2024.
“It’s the nature of military sport.” She says. “We knew all the teams would all be different than last year – someone’s on a ship, someone’s deployed, someone can’t make it.”
14 Wing started its practice season determined to take a core group, and newcomers, as far as it could. At regionals earlier this winter, Gagetown didn’t enter a team: fewer games, fewer chances for wear and tear – but fewer opportunities to play as a team. Still, Greenwood won.
“In Petawawa, at nationals, we knew we were going into the round robin looking for game experience and high level play – and it caught on really quickly,” DeAdder says. “We knew, if we wanted to play, compete and do well, we had to show up and go into every game wanting to win.”
Greenwood opened April 30 facing the CFB Esquimalt Tritons, bringing the game within 10 points at the end of the third quarter before the Tritons went on a scoring run to take a 82-64 win. Greenwood’s MVP was Master Corporal Edrian Vlaar. Later the same day, Greenwood met Petawawa and won 59-54. Greenwood’s MVP was Corporal Jordon Mayo. An 80-63 loss May 1 to Ottawa (Greenwood MVP was team captain LieutenantJon Wilson) added to the mixed bag results, and put Greenwood in third place out of the round robin.
Wilson says that Ottawa loss helped Greenwood, part of the “progression of the team.
“We rallied to our game plan, scraped through it – and then followed it to a T into our semi-final.”
More right time, right place for Greenwood: Petawawa beat Esquimalt 48-45 in an “eye-opener” game.
“If they can do it, we can do it,” DeAdder says: Greenwood went into its semi-final and beat Ottawa this time, 60-58 on a foul-induced free-throw, with just 1.2 second left in the game. Greenwood’s MVP was Corporal EvanTrites.
Preparing for the May 3 final, Greenwood knew Petawawa would pack its gym and be confident on home court: they’d have to come out strong.
“In the first quarter, we were up,” DeAdder says. “There was never a point where it wasn’t out of hand. I didn’t feel comfortable or confident on the bench, really just watching, while the guys were on the court playing.”
Greenwood played hard, used its defence to keep Petawawa from shooting the way it had through the tournament – and won in a surprising 65-39 result.
“We opened that final with zero doubt,” says Wilson, with an advantage over DeAdder with his on-court, in-game perspective.
“It was impressive an RCAF team out-muscled and out-hustled an army team. We were dedicated and driven – we knew it could be our only time to win. We came out in that first quarter and put it on them. Petawawa’s semi-final was so difficult, theyw ere tired; but we worked to stay composed, and we didn’t take our foot off the gas.
“We were never scared: this was the stars aligning.”
DeAdder and Wilson are already looking ahead to 2025: what’s it going to take to rebuild after a posting season? Who can they recruit from 14 Wing’s personnel, or from anyone posting in? As they host 2025 regionals, can Greenwood repeat? Wilson says, despite the “one-year contracts” of many military sports athletes, this season cemented a new “Bombers’ culture” for 14 Wing basketball.
“We’re walking away from this season, feeling such a high,” DeAdder says. Wilson agrees: “This was definitely the best basketball tournament I’ve ever played in.
“I’ve truly never been on a team that worked like this, that came together and won. It was amazing to watch everything coalesce.”
Alyssa DeAdder is the first woman to head coach a men’s basketball team to a Canadian Armed Forces championship title. The 14 Wing Greenwood team made its first-ever nationals appearance in May – and won. DeAdder is 14 Wing’s
Personnel Support Program sports coordinator, and a CAF CISM women’s bench coach.
CAF basketball milestone for DeAdder
With the 2024 Canadian Armed Forces championship, Alyssa DeAdder becomes the first woman to head coach a CAF title-winning men’s basketball team.
“She was crucial,” says Lieutenant Jon Wilson, captain of the 14 Wing Greenwood team, the national tournament MVP and a CISM-level basketball player.
“We went out and watched every team, she was tactical, her time-outs were organized, she had our team cool downs set up with rides and hydration; two of the other teams have coaches both affiliated with CISM’s men’s program. She deserves coach of the year.
“It cannot be understated.”
DeAdder, 14 Wing’s Personnel Support Program sports coordinator, is a coach on the CISM women’s basketball bench, “but this is men’s basketball,” she says. “A few of the guys who have been with me for the past two or three years, as they posted out, had come and said they weren’t sure about me, but that I’d earned their trust and they knew my skills and expertise.
“It’s nice to hear from the players that they appreciate my time and effort.”
