Riffel’s Kennedy Hollinger battled through injury to find success on the court

Kennedy Hollinger’s drive has helped shape her both on and off the court.

The 17-year-old Riffel Royal will be heading to the University of Calgary (U of C) on a basketball scholarship to continue her career on the court, something that nearly came to an end the summer of her Grade 11 year.

Hollinger suffered a chipped femur in her left leg, an injury that now forces her to wear a brace.

“They had to put screws in and they didn’t know if I was going to be able to play basketball just with the kind of surgery and the kind of injury that it was,” Hollinger said. “Just being able to be here now was just a major goal and I’m just very fortunate to be here.”

Despite the fact her time playing the game she loved could have ended, Hollinger remained adamant she would be shooting hoops once again.

“I just didn’t allow myself to fully accept (I couldn’t play). My surgeon said there was a 50/50 chance (that I could play again), and I just didn’t want to believe that – I thought I was the 50 that could,” she said.

That drive and determination wasn’t a surprise for her coach Cymone Bernauer.

“She wanted to get back like yesterday. She was doing everything she could; she was seeing all kinds of specialists, she was doing some training and she really missed the court,” said Bernauer, who is in her 10th season as the head coach of the senior girls basketball team at Riffel.

“She’s a true competitor, she’s a natural athlete and she just belongs on the hardwood. We could see the determination in her eyes and the optimism and we just knew she would be back.”

And Hollinger has not only been able to get back to playing competitive basketball; she’s doing it at a high-level.

She was invited out to a tryout for the U-18 national women’s basketball team this December as the team gets ready for the FIBA AmeriCup at the end of June.

“I’m kind of just waiting for them to tell me if I’m coming or not,” Hollinger said.

It wasn’t the first time the national stage has been interested in Hollinger – she had gone to a tryout when she was in Grade 10.

“It’s just a different style of competition out in the east. Everyone was much taller than me,” the 5-foot-9-inch point guard said. “I felt like I was pretty tall, but then going out there, there were girls six feet, five (inches tall), and I’m like so short compared to them.”

While she waits to find out if her talents will take her to the national stage, Hollinger is focused on completing her final year of high school before heading west to take on the college level.

“Getting a scholarship was really important to be able to move away,” Hollinger said.”The team culture was really important to me and I felt that everyone (at the U of C) was really connected to each other.”

Bernauer, who played basketball with the University of Regina Cougars, said it’s no surprise Hollinger will be taking that next step.

“I knew in Grade 10 that she was already better than I was heading into my University career.”

Bernauer said Riffell was lucky Hollinger joined their program in Grade 10, noting she has become a leader both on and off the court.

“We didn’t know much about her, just that she was a tenacious little Grade 9 player,” Bernauer said. “We were just really happy that she could be a scorer for us, because that’s what we were really lacking.”

Hollinger, who first began playing basketball when she was in Grade 2, said she hopes the scholarship will let her find a career in her passion.

“I wanted to go into nursing, but that was really hard to do while playing basketball so I’m going to go into the kinesiology program and fast-track it into the nursing after the five years are done,” Hollinger said. “Helping people is kind of a passion of mine, especially with the older people. And the old folks home is kind of a big, strong passion that I had, so just to give back to the community in that way was kind of important for me.”

As Hollinger gets ready to make the next steps in her life, she thanks basketball for helping set her on the path she’s on.

“I feel like my hard work has paid off in a sense. Every summer I had, it went all year-round and I feel like just having the opportunity to do that and develop my game made me who I am right now,” she said.

“It allowed me to develop patience and be able to work with other people. It allowed me to build relationships with people on a new level and just grow deeper as a person.”