By John Elambo

Anika Weekes comes from a family of basketball — her twin sister Paulla plays for Iona College, while both her parents coached with the Scarborough Basketball Association. 

Weekes and her twin sister, Paulla, started with soccer at a young age, but their parents decided to let the twins try basketball around the age of nine.

“We discovered (basketball) at the same time,” Weekes said, adding she and her sister both have a competitive nature.

“I would say having that (competitive) mindset allowed us to handle business on the court no what setting we are in,” she said.

“We typically don’t like answering that question (who is better?) because it always seems like we are being compared to each other, however (Paulla) is better.”

Weekes said her fondest memory of playing with the SBA is winning championships and creating a bond with her teammates. 

“Off the court, I loved when we would go to Coach Breedy’s house for team bonding,” she said of the family atmosphere created by her SBA coach that allowed her to build friendships with Brianna Breedy (Oakland University) and Keishana Washington (Drexel University). 

The thing she’s most proud of from a basketball standpoint is her commitment to hard work.

“I would say coming back from an injury and seeing the court, in addition to receiving the defensive player award,” said Weekes of her top accomplishments. 

Weekes is currently at Central Michigan University, where she has now three seasons under her belt (two if you consider the fact she missed her entire sophomore season with an injury). 

“It is honestly an honour to be playing college basketball in the United States and is something I do not take for granted,” said Weekes, who is thankful that basketball has allowed her opportunities to attend college and travel to different parts of the world. “There are so many aspiring athletes that would like to play at the level I play at now. Being chosen by Central Michigan was a blessing.” 

Weekes sees herself becoming a biology professor after her playing career, adding it never was her dream to play basketball after college.

“But who knows, something may change in my last years of playing and I might try to play professionally,” she said.