Oge Ejim

Something for Everyone to Celebrate

A fourth-year player sees success in the way a team moves together.

Oge Ejim remembers an overtime win against Briercrest in her second university season. What stays with her is how everyone contributed.

The defensive rotations connected. Communication held. The team created turnovers without piling up fouls. Each player finished with something to feel proud of.

For Oge, that is a particular kind of success: the moment when individual work becomes a shared result.

It’s a feeling she first recognized in high school. Her Grade 11 team combined strong players with good people, backed one another in close games, and celebrated a division championship together on the ride home. She realized she loved the people as much as the sport.

The ride home is a telling part of the memory. The championship had already been won, but the pleasure continued through celebrating one another. Oge saw that a successful team could give every player a place in the experience. That understanding has stayed with her as the level of basketball has changed.

The overtime win against Briercrest supplied a university version of the same idea. She could contribute at both ends, watch teammates do their work, and recognize the communication connecting it all. The group had prepared something together, then made it happen when the game required it.

Basketball had started through her older sister, whose example made her want to play at seven or eight. Her sister remains someone she can turn to for advice about the game, fitness, or life.

Her sister’s influence has grown with her. The example first made Oge want to play. It now gives her someone to consult about the work, the way she approaches it, and the life surrounding it. Hard work, passion, and drive have been visible in that relationship rather than left as qualities she had to define for herself.

Oge wants to become a similar source of confidence for her teammates. Improving her own free throws and defence gives her specific assignments. Thinking about what the team needs gives those assignments their purpose. She is building toward a kind of leadership that becomes apparent through dependable contributions.

Now entering her fourth year of eligibility with the Lightning, Oge wants to improve her free throw percentage and refine her defence. She also wants to become someone teammates look up to, through what she contributes and how she approaches the work.

On hard days, she thinks about what her teammates need from her. The question gives effort a direction beyond personal preference.

Success should be “something that can be celebrated with the whole team,” she says.

Outside basketball, Oge crochets stuffed animals for friends and family, along with clothing, blankets, and accessories. Time alone, at home or exercising, helps her recharge. Humour is another strength—although she awards Eva first place in that department.

Oge has developed by embracing the chance to learn from stronger players. Her targets now give that curiosity a specific direction.

Oge wants to improve her own game in ways that give everyone a reason to celebrate. She knows how good that can feel on the ride home.