Wolves’ basketball-playing siblings hope ‘sister telepathy’ will support the team

On a Monday evening in the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre, the Algonquin Wolves women’s basketball team are hard at work on the court, training for another year. A player dribbles the ball and tosses it to guard Leah Hirst.

“Anna,” she calls as she throws.

Leah makes a face and shakes her head as she receives the ball. That’s her little sister’s name, not hers. But when you’re one of three sisters on the same varsity team, name flubs are par for the course.

The Hirst sisters – Libby, Leah and Anna – are gearing up for a unique year. After all, this will be their first and only year playing on the same team together before Libby graduates from the bachelor’s in nursing program with uOttawa and Algonquin College. The girls – along with coach Jaime McLean – have a goal in mind: the gold medal.

According to the women, joining the Wolves wasn’t an instantaneous decision – especially for Anna, who was scouted this past year.

“For a while I was really on the fence of if I actually wanted to play or not,” said Anna, who is beginning her first year in the uOttawa/Algonquin nursing program, and her first year as a guard on the women’s basketball team. “But then it just kind of hit me one day when I was playing basketball, I was like ‘You know what? If I have to go and sit in the stands and not play with you guys [her sisters] next year, I’ll be so miserable, there’s no way I could not play with you guys if given the opportunity.”

Leah, the middle sister and a third-year in the same program, was recruited several years prior. The Wolves team came to her high school for a scrimmage, and after participating in summer training camps Leah joined the team.

Libby joined first, during her grade 12 year. The post player and fourth-year student in the nursing program has been on the team the longest, and before this year, had never been on the same team as Anna.

Back in the gym, the women run drills, practice shooting and train for upcoming games, supervised by their coach McLean. While he’s said before that recruitment is more about choosing the correct program and school, McLean is excited to have the Hirst trifecta.

“It’s actually kind of fun, it’s really neat to see Anna coming in,” said McLean. “At first you could tell she was really nervous of coming into Leah and Libby’s space. But it was really fun to watch Leah and Libby just not care about it being ‘their space.’ They want her to be a part of it. They want her to learn and to gain what they’ve gotten here.”

Practice continues, with drills focusing on teamwork and skills. Libby, Leah and Anna run in and out, working in different combinations and on different teams for exercises. Sometimes Leah and Anna are together, sometimes Libby and Anna, sometimes all three, sometimes none.

“I’ve played with Leah, every other year I guess in my basketball career growing up I was with Leah,” said Anna. “We always played really well together, like sister telepathy … and I’ve never played with you [Libby] but I know it’ll come.”

Leah’s team loses a drill, and her sisters cheer her on as she completes her pushups. Anna helps her complete the exercise while Libby counts reps and cheers her on.

“It’s so fun to celebrate your successes, it’s just as fun as celebrating mine,” said Anna.

“It’s also nice to have people who will give you the honest truth,” said Libby. “Like if you’re doing something bad, you [her sisters] will be able to look at me and be like ‘Libby why are you doing that’ versus somebody else who may feel awkward about it.”

However, being on a team together has been about more than just playing. The girls have fallen into a routine for practices and games.

“Last weekend we did a trip, New York State, and Jaime [McLean] put us three in the same room,” said Leah. “We all call our parents on one phone at the end of the day.”

“For O Canada we all line up next to each other,” said Libby. “We have a few traditions.”

Other traditions include matching their hairstyles for games, shouting “Sisters!” when another Hirst enters the changeroom, packing each other snacks and of course, the Starbucks run.

“It’s kind of a tradition, whoever has the meal plan with res does the Starbucks run before we leave, so this year it’s Anna,” said Leah. “She knows her job. We get a Venti pink drink and a cake pop before we travel.”

McLean said having the three girls on the team together has also been interesting, given how different their play styles are.

“All three of them play different positions,” said McLean. “It’s actually kind of fun where like, a lot of siblings when they come in will all be very similar because they grew up playing together. The three of them have a lot of similarities but their games are all very different.”

With all three sisters together, McLean is looking forward to the season – and to the potential medal at the end.

“It’s sort of a challenge of like: We’ve done bronze, we’ve done silver – can we go get that gold,” said McLean. “It’s not easy to get to that gold medal game, but to win that game is even harder, right? We’ve been there once, to try and get back to do it again is difficult. But I think it’s a challenge that these girls are up to.”

From there, McLean would love to take on nationals.

Ultimately, being on the Wolves team together for this one year has given the Hirsts something they didn’t expect: more time together.

“We don’t see each other at all until practice,” said Leah. “I get excited, even when I’m dreading practice I’m like ‘oh I’ll get to see them,’ because I haven’t seen them since Friday.”

Anna agrees. “It’s a better night for me at practice when my sisters are there.”