Last weekend, the Willamette Basketball Club took on opponents from powerhouse schools such as ASU and U of A in Phoenix, Arizona, as a part of the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association’s (NIRSA) Western Regional Tournament. For the club’s exec team, going to a national tournament didn’t even seem like a possibility last semester.
The club, started by alumni Joaquin Ocaña (ʼ24) and Maxwell Fontaine (ʼ24) in the spring of 2023, has seen a surge in consistent turnout since they moved their practices to Mondays and Thursdays at the beginning of this spring semester. According to Ocaña, who has been hired as the club’s official coach since graduating, they have around 19 total members going to Arizona — 11 for the men’s team, 8 for the women’s — with this number not reflecting the total regular turnout they get at practices.
This roster represents a vast improvement from where they were last semester: “Last year, we only had around four or five people,” said Malachi Washington (ʼ25), the current co-president. When asked about the club’s popularity, Washington said, “We’re pretty inclusive, so like we encourage all skill levels. There’s a lot of people here who are still learning how to play basketball.” Along with novices to the game, the club has drawn some of its membership from former Willamette varsity players such as Ava Kitchin (MBA ʼ25) and Carolyn Ho (ʼ25).
A cross-state travel tournament hadn’t always been on the club’s radar. “Malachi brought it up sometime around November, and initially we were like, ‘No way. No way we can make this happen,’” said Ocaña. But as they began to do some investigating, the club’s exec team found that there was more precedent than they’d anticipated for club sports traveling. “We looked at [previous funding requests from other clubs] just to get an idea of what was feasible. … We were like, ‘Okay, if we budget … it might be doable,’” said Ocaña.
According to Ocaña, the final price tag ended up being around $9,000, with the participants having to front some of the costs themselves for flights. That number covers everything the club might need, with hotels, registration, jerseys and transportation forming the bulk of the expenses.
Prior to the tournament, Ocaña explained, “As a coach, I feel a little like, I don’t wanna say [I’m] nervous, but [the tournament’s] gonna be eye-opening and pretty hard.” Regardless of their nerves, Ocaña and Washington are focused simply on getting better. “I think that’s kinda the biggest reason we went through with it, because regardless of how good we are, maybe one day Willamette can, as a club team, really compete in tournaments like [this one],” said Ocaña.
The tournament, hosted by Grand Canyon University, started Friday, Feb. 28, and went through Sunday night. The women’s squad took staggering losses at the hands of the Arizona State University’s club (12-89), Cal Poly Pomona’s club (11-73) and Grand Canyon University’s (GCU) “Gold” club (17-79). The men fared slightly better, losing to University of Arizona Neighbors (44-64), GCU National (38-83) and GCU 4 (35-56).
Comments