When the phone rang in May 2007, Kaitlin Rempel had no idea that her whole life was about to change.

She was home in Winnnipeg for the summer from Grant MacEwan University, where she had just completed her first year. Rempel had been recruited to the Edmonton school to play for their women’s basketball team.

She had attended Westgate Mennonite Collegiate and, coming out of the AAA school, she found that she was not yet ready to play basketball at the university level. She decided to accept a scholarship to play for Grant MacEwan – whose basketball program is at the college level – in hopes of later competing at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) level.

On that day in May 2007, Rempel answered the phone and was shocked to hear the voice of Wesmen Women’s Basketball Team head coach, Tanya McKay.

“Tanya asked me if I would like to join the Wesmen program and, to me, the call was completely out of the blue,” said Rempel. “It took me a couple of days to decide to join the Wesmen and the decision to do so drastically changed my plans. I moved back to Winnipeg and began training with the Wesmen that summer.”

Today, Rempel is in her third year with the Wesmen program and her fourth year of post-secondary eligibility. She is thoroughly enjoying her academic experience at the University of Winnipeg, as well as with the Wesmen.

She is looking forward to the rest of the season, which began Oct. 30.

“Our team has been together for a few years now, and I think it’s going to be a big year for us.”

In school, Rempel is studying towards her kinesiology degree and is a CIS Academic All-Canadian. In the summers, she works for Cutting Edge Landscaping in Edmonton, which has sparked an interest in pursuing a future in landscape design.

When she graduates, Rempel is looking at either moving up with Cutting Edge Landscaping or using her kinesiology degree to become a personal trainer.

Published in Volume 64, Number 11 of The Uniter (November 12, 2009)