Foster Brown has come to be known throughout the Redeemer community, the OCAA and Hamilton basketball community as a personable, level-headed young man. He'll be the first to tell you, it wasn't always that way.
During one chippy high school game while he was playing for Saltfleet, he had received five fouls, including a technical, near the final buzzer. It was so bad that he recalls Royals' head coach Jamie Girolametto, who was in the gym watching Brown in hopes of recruiting him, walking out.
It was back in 2015 that Girolametto first saw Foster Brown play. "He was a hot-headed, passionate player whose ability to play full-court defence impressed me," he recalls. After a personal battle of deciding whether to pursue post-secondary football or basketball, Brown signed with the Redeemer Royals in April of 2016. Throughout the time he was being recruited by Jamie Girolametto, 10-year head coach of the Redeemer Royals Men's Basketball team, Foster was always impressed by his persistence, honesty and diligence, and the way he made him feel like "more than just a basketball player." Brown also attributes his recruitment as the time during which he began to take a second look at his demeanor and reactions while playing the game. Girolametto made it clear to Brown that character is important, and that if he wanted to be a part of his program his actions would be challenged.
Brown quickly became a prominent force on the court for the Royals and also within the OCAA. Throughout his years at Redeemer University, Girolametto continued to challenge and mentor Brown. Foster recalls having Jamie ask him, several times, "what type of person do you want to be? What do you want to be known for?" These conversations sparked within Foster an eagerness to take steps toward change. Brown will admit it wasn't a quick process. It took deliberate and intentional work to change habits and character traits of which he wasn't necessarily proud. A former teammate, Maurice Brown, started a post-game prayer tradition that brought both teams together for a moment of prayer and thankfulness at the end of each game. When Maurice Brown was reaching the end of his time with Royals, he called on Foster to take over his tradition. Foster thought, "what an honour." The fact that Maurice saw him in that light continued to fuel his passional and desire to be a constant man of character both on and off the court. "I couldn't be the player getting all kinds of fouls during a game and then praying at the end."
In his fifth year with the Royals, Foster is now a constant and profound leader on his team. He is looked up to not only by his teammates but also other athletes in the league, as well as young athletes that are interested in joining the Redeemer Men's Basketball program. When asked now what Coach Jamie Girolametto sees in Brown, his immediate statement was, "he amazes me." He was grown tremendously during his time at Redeemer both on and off the court. "He is one of the most personable people I have ever met." These abilities have allowed him to become the leader he is, and to gain the trust of his teammates and coaches.
Brown is pursuing his passions of basketball and genuine connection in his work outside of the gym as well. In the past, Foster worked with a local non-profit, Liberty for Youth, in Hamilton mentoring and coaching youth basketball. He was most recently names as a mentor for the National Basketball Youth Mentorship Program (NBYMP). Through the NBYMP, youth across Canada are able to get advice, chat about goals and build lasting relationships with pro-basketball athletes, university athletes and coaches. Brown is able to reflect and see how basketball and his coach, Jamie, have impacted his life in such positive ways that he "wants to share what I have learned through my experiences, and help youth who may be facing some of the same challenges."
Source: Curtiss Straatsma/Redeemer Royals