Melissa Foster, University of New Brunswick

Women’s Basketball

Melissa Foster of Moncton, N.B., grew up figure skating. But in a surprising turn of events, the girl who spent over ten years logging long days at the rink is now an integral part of the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds’ women’s basketball team.

Unlike most of her teammates, Foster didn’t take up basketball until high school. “My dad has always loved [it], so when I began high school, I thought I would give it a try,” she says. “I fell in love with the game.”

Despite a late start, Foster’s coach Jeff Speedy describes her as an “intelligent player [who] knows what we are trying to do strategically and why.”

Speedy also sees a promising future in basketball ahead for Foster, predicting that following her varsity career she will, “get involved right away in coaching and be a very good one.”

Now earning a bachelor of science in kinesiology with aspirations of applying to the two-year advanced standing nursing program for 2014, Foster’s life has become an impressive balancing act of academic and athletic achievement and extensive volunteer work.

She spent her summer in Kuma Village, Malawi with the Active Youth Organization working with children 5 and under in four community-based child centres completing growth monitoring and providing education and feeding programs.

“We helped organize a sports day in early July that had over 2,000 people from the local villages,” she says. “The goal of the day was to bring people together so that we could share health and nutrition information.”

Over the past year, Foster has also been heavily involved with the global organization Right to Play. In August, she travelled to Kigali, Rwanda to participate in a Global Youth Summit. She also helps lead the UNB Right to Play Club.

“She truly wants to make a difference in the world and will do so,” says Coach Speedy. “She cares a great deal about her teammates and everyone she comes in contact with.”

Getting to know Melissa Foster:

What has been your most memorable moment playing for UNB?

“When our team travelled to Cuba for a week during December in my third year. We ran practices with the [Cuban] team and showed each other drills we do with our teams. It was incredible that we could not communicate because of the language barrier but we could all play the sport together that we love.”

Tell us one thing you think your friends, teammates and fans might not know about you.

“I have dreams of opening and running a coffee shop near home!”

Coach Speedy’s favourite memory of Melissa, on or off the court?

“Probably seeing the smile on her face when I agreed to purchase Right to Play t-shirts for the team and have us wear them as warm-up shirts before our game. It showed me how much this cause means to her.” – UNB head coach Jeff Speedy.

Follow Melissa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mel_foster14