Bazinet leaves lasting hoops legacy

DANIEL DALE

GUELPH (Jul 13, 2006)

Tony Bazinet was always easy to find.

"He wasn't one of these guys you would see downtown or here and there," says Marti Valeriote, who served with him on the board of Guelph's CYO basketball program. "He was always at a basketball court."

Bazinet, who ran the CYO's all-star program, died of cancer June 28 at 61. The retired principal left behind Helen, his wife of 37 years, his daughter Cathy, and his son Philip.

He also left the hundreds of players, mostly girls, he's coached -- and uniquely -- over the past 30 years.

For "The Bear", a trademark Bazinet drill designed to instill intensity, he would have players partner up, look each other in the eye, and growl.

"The girls loved it," says Cathy, a former Guelph Gryphons player who Bazinet coached in the CYO.

"It didn't matter that we were girls, to him. We were all aggressive, we were all tough."

Bazinet, a former teacher, found it important to build personal relationships with his players. CYO coach Andrew Chaput once saw a letter Bazinet and a co-coach wrote to a player after a season. "We need to tell you how much we admire you as a person," it began.

Bazinet was sometimes criticized for giving his players equal playing time. "I know a lot of people think that's not right," said Liz Parent, a CYO director. "For some coaches, winning is most important. He just didn't believe in that."

After joining the CYO's house league program in the mid-90s, Bazinet became the head of its all-star program eight years ago. When he retired from Mary Phelan Catholic School in 2002, he made his volunteer position a full-time job, spending six to eight hours a day on CYO-related matters.

Even when Bazinet was still employed, some found it hard to believe he had an existence outside the gym.

"When my mom would come to a game, people would be like, 'Oh! You have a wife!'" Cathy says with a laugh.

Bazinet was most passionate about shooting fundamentals. For the past four years, he ran a shooting school for atom players, visiting practices in the early months of the season to videotape players' shots and offer detailed suggestions for improvement.

Bazinet was strong-willed, Parent and CYO president Paul Keating say, and often stubborn arguing his views, whether on the supreme importance of shooting or a matter before the board.

His heart, though, was always in the right place.

"He felt strongly about what was best for the kids," Parent says. "And he never backed down from that."