For Janet and Jen Reid, basketball has been a big part of their lives, from their youth, through university, and as respected coaches on various levels.
As Janet Reid explained, their family was heavily into sports when they were growing up.
“Our dad was big into sports, including hockey, and he passed that along to us, and my mom played basketball out in Halifax. They just wanted my sisters and I to be involved and always supported us, telling us they wanted us to always do our best in anything we chose. Growing up, we played a lot of sports like baseball, basketball, and volleyball [and] by grade ten, we got involved with the CYO basketball in Brantford. We really liked it, and we both excelled at the sport.” Janet said. “Paul Mitchell ran the program (who is no longer with us), and Dennis Kings was an important coach in our development early on, teaching us the fundamentals. We had a lot of natural talent, and he brought that out of us. We would make it to the All-Star teams [and] which are called travel teams now. Once we made it to these teams, we found ourselves excelling at high levels of play.”
Along with the CYO program in Brantford, the sisters played for the St. John’s College girls basketball team, with plans to play after high school.
“When we attended high school…there were three levels, which were midget, junior, and senior. And we started in junior, playing one year at that level. Where we won CWOSSA, and then in the next four years, we went up to senior, and then that’s where we won OFSAA gold, silver, and bronze, in that order. So, in 1990 it was OFSAA gold, and then 1991 was the silver, and then in 1992 was the bronze,” Jen said. “Both of us definitely wanted to play basketball beyond high school…to go to university, or college. We did get recruited stateside, but ultimately made the decision to stay in Canada. We also made the decision that we wanted to go to the same school.”
At that time, they were also finding success playing for other provincial and national teams.
“There was a team in 1990, which we got to play in for the Ontario Summer Games [and] it was for the central west region. Then we moved up to the junior level when, in 1992, [when] we played in the Canada Summer Games. We didn’t come home with a medal, but the team still played very well. Also, our coach Bob Delaney for the provincial team also coached us in high school and during our time at the University of Western Ontario,” Janet said.
However, the Reid sisters have always excelled playing on the same teams.
“We’ve always had that team relation between us, as competitive as we are, we never really competed to be better than each other, the….we always worked together. And sometimes on the floor, people were amazed at the awareness we had for each other, [and would] ask us: how did you know she was there? There are always times when one of us would have a better game than the other, but we always tried to keep each other up. We never really competed against each other for a spot…instead, we were always helping each other,” Janet explained.
After graduating high school, the Reids would decide to go to the University of Western Ontario, with Jen choosing to do a degree in psychology while Janet wanted to pursue a business degree. However, the sisters continued helping each other through university.
“When we got there, we weren’t starters right away, which was hard for us, because we were always starters. But it didn’t take long for us to get there and get those roles because we worked together. We were in different fields, but we have the same friend circle, which, when you’re in sports, [and] anytime you are around like-minded people, really helps,” Janet noted. “I also believe it’s to do with our upbringing…we were always taught to work together, and we always did, so despite the different programs, we just helped each other through. There were times one of us might have started, and the other didn’t. But we always supported each other.”
Nevertheless, in university, they had to balance a heavy school schedule while playing basketball.
“It was an adjustment, for sure…having to keep up with your school, because you had to keep a certain GPA to play. We were also traveling a lot and practicing, while managing our school work. It definitely was an adjustment period for both of us when we went to Western, but it was something that we managed and were able to do,” said Jen. “During that time…there were a few big recruits, Janet, myself, and there were a couple of players, one from Hamilton and one from the Pelham area. There were some really big recruits that they had coming in [and the program was] pretty established, but had room for growth, because some players had [graduated]. The team was building a little bit that year when we came in, [but] they did a good job recruiting players that could come in and really contribute.”
Looking past university basketball, the sisters always knew they would be involved in the sport in some way.
“We did make it to the OUA playoffs, which was a highlight. Janet stayed in 1993-94, and then didn’t go back after that. I stayed for three years at Western, and then I transferred to St Mary’s University. I needed a change [and] played there for two years out there in Halifax.” Jen recalled. ”Basketball has always been part of our lives in some capacity. We would be either playing or coaching or both. We ended up playing in a Women’s League after University. I did entertain the idea of going overseas to play, but decided not to pursue that. But then we got into coaching and just kept going from there.”
While they ended up coaching in the CYO program, with Jen Reid being an assistant coach at the University of Guelph, they got the opportunity to coach various basketball levels at Assumption College in Brantford.
”We coached the girls’ teams from 2001 to 2004, and then in 2005 we coached the senior boys’ team. We coached the junior girls before the senior boys, and we got asked to coach the boys for one year because they didn’t have a coach, which we took on,” Janet stated. “Because we were coaching young athletes…we really wanted them to go home learning something while enjoying the sport. But in that time, we were very successful. We won CWOSSA with the junior girls and consistently won the cities every year. It was rewarding to be able to give back to the girls.”
Nevertheless, Janet and Jen Reid would get another opportunity to coach St. John’s girls’ program that had a strong tradition of winning, which they were part of as players years prior. They would both coach the St. John’s junior girls’ team to the CWOSSA AAA basketball championship for the 2024-25 season; however, during the next season, Jen Reid left to focus on family as well as role as principal at another school. And after winning another championship in 2025-26, Janet Reid has looked to continue coaching.
“When the coaches Lindsay [Ronson] and Karen [Vitalis], stepped down, they had asked us back to coach the team. Although we had some big shoes to fill, we were very excited to continue the enthusiasm from the previous years, and we were very happy that we would be coaching together. [And] to get a chance to coach here was special, and it was nice to be back where we started. Our roots were at St. John’s, and it came full circle,” Janet said.
However, the importance of basketball across all facets of life is something that has resonated with the sisters.
“Brantford has been known for its basketball, especially through the CYO program, and I think it continues to grow. It has changed a lot when we played, because now they have all these junior and prep teams, and it’s a little bit different. They still get lots of people coming in, which is great, because I think we’re known for that in Brantford with our CYO program and helping to move kids up to higher levels. I think it’s still a growing program,” Jen said. “The biggest thing that I’ve learned from every ever I played or coached, whether it be at CYO, St. Mary’s, or with the provincial team, would have to be the team ethic…doing things together, working together, and succeeding together. So not only do these programs help you grow as an athlete, but they also help you grow as a person.”
