Damian Stone started playing basketball because his dad, Jeff, was diagnosed with cancer.

It was a rough time in young Damian’s life. He was only nine and coping wasn’t easy. So, he started shooting hoops — sometimes alone, sometimes with his friends.

“With my dad being sick, and with things the way they were at home, playing just kind of took me away and just helped me handle everything,” said Damian, now 14, and with a healthy father at his side. “At first, it was just me playing at the park with my friends or by myself. Then, in Grade 8, I started playing club basketball with Crossover. So, that was two years ago. I’m going into Grade 10 now, and we just won a championship last year.”

A pretty solid athlete before he started playing basketball, Damian earned his black belt in Taekwon

See Full Page