All those early-morning workouts paid off for Aliyah Fraser.
The 18-year-old shooting guard, who recently signed with the St.FX University basketball program, would have her grandfather Clyde Fraser drop her off at the Pictou County Wellness Centre for pre-dawn workouts prior to going to school.
“I’d work out at the YMCA with Ben and Bryson Johnson when I was in grade six, seven and eight, and (later) with Craig Sutherland, before school in the morning. We’d go at 6 a.m. and train,” said Fraser, during an interview at her grandparent’s home in New Glasgow.
“I’m excited to go to X, excited to play in front of my family and friends, to see familiar faces in the crowd.”
Fraser played a year of prep school basketball in Sault Saint Marie, Ont., and for her Grade 11 year transferred to TRC Academy in Brampton, where she also spent part of Grade 12 before returning home.
“Now I’m back at North Nova to graduate with my friends,” she says.
Fraser had some options, but eventually landed close to home to play university ball.
“I didn’t really know where I wanted to go to university and I was just waiting for a situation that felt right. My coach at TRC Academy (Lee Anna Osei) actually got the coaching job at St.FX, and once coach Lee got the job, I felt St.FX was the place for me.”
The school announced on Feb. 8 that they have suspended coach Lee Anna Osei for the rest of the season after she allegedly tried to punish a player with a disciplinary drill during practice, which resulted in the player seeking medical treatment for scrapes and bruises to her wrists and forearms.
Fraser, who will study health sciences at X, defended her past (and future) coach.
“She has so much love for her players and for the game of basketball. She’s an amazing coach and she really helped shape who I am.”
NNEC graduates Lucia MacKay and Jamie McCarron are currently on the roster for the rebuilding X-Women, who are winless in 17 games this season. MacKay is a first-year student athlete, while McCarron joined the program in 2015.
Fraser started out with the Pictou County Lightning basketball program and developed quickly, ultimately playing for provincial teams (U14, U15 and U16) before heading to Ontario, where she would be surrounded by other elite athletes, who helped push her to get better.
Even as a freshman at St.FX, Fraser hopes to get significant playing time and is eager to put in the work to make it happen – just like she did when she was in elementary school.
“I just have to work really, (but) starting is the goal.”
