Schooling, Basketball and US Scholarship Aspirations of Canadian Student Athletes

This article examines the commonly expressed ambition of Black/African Canadian youth, particularly male student athletes, to win athletic scholarships to Ameri can universities. In addition, it seeks to establish why, in the face of low odds and intense competition with their US counterparts, African Canadian student athletes think that it is possible for them to win scholarships and realise these aspirations. To explore this and other questions, the author talked with a group of five Black/African Canadian male high school basketball players who attended schools in a suburban area outside of metropolitan Toronto and who, with one exception, aspired to win basketball scholarships to study at universities and colleges in the USA. The participants in this study used strategies such as attending the right schools, endeavouring to play on winning basketball teams, and seeking exposure to college and university coaches to ensure that their dreams are realised. It is argued that the experiences of these students, and the strategies they use to navigate and negotiate school in order to realise their goals, are informed by the Canadian multiculturalism discourse which operates to construct Black youth as good athletes. This construction is evident in the subculture of these youth, in that; they have come to think of their athletic abilities and skills as signifiers of blackness and masculinity, as well as the means through which they can expect to achieve their educational and career goals.