By John Elambo

Ted Ferreira has had a lot of success as a coach in the Scarborough Basketball Association, winning medal after medal with boys and girls teams.

His basketball teams have won four gold, two silver and one bronze medal in Division 1 at the Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) Championships. 

“My 2006 boys team won three consecutive gold medals in Division 1,” Ferreira said. 

He also won a couple of medals with the girls as well.

“My 1997 girls team won two gold, two bronze and my 2004 girls team won three bronze medals in Division 1,” he said. 

Ferreira does not see a difference between coaching  girls and boys teams, pointing out that they both work very hard and are willing to sacrifice their bodies to get every edge they can in games. 

Ferreira started in the SBA during the club’s second year of the operation in 1997, coaching his son in house league.

“I was then fortunate enough to become involved with the executive group and coaching rep,” he said. 

His family also has been involved in the SBA. His two sons both played, while his brother Bruce and brother-in-law Alan were involved in coaching. 

“Both of my boys also helped coaching with me, and also volunteering for score keeping and helping with house league,” said Ferreira, who has had many good memories of the SBA.

There is one, however, that stands out the most. 

“We were playing a game in Windsor at the Provincial Championships, we were in the third quarter when the lights went out in the gym, actually the entire school,” he said of the 1997 girls team he was coaching at the time. “We didn’t realize that it was the first “Earth Day” and at a certain time everyone was asked to save electricity by turning the lights off for an hour. 

“Well, with an hour to kill in a dark gym the players from our team and our archrivals Blessed Sacrament just spontaneously got together and started singing and dancing with each other, it was such a heart-warming thing to see, they had a great time.”

He went on to say that everyone was disappointed when the lights came back on and had to resume the game. 

Getting the privilege to work with so many great kids is the best thing about his time with SBA, according to Ferreira. He feels fortunate that he has built relationships with several of his players, the most recent being Iyayi Ousande, who is now attending a prep school in Arizona.

“I’ve also had some terrific co-coaches, especially Steve Alleyene and my brother Bruce Vieira,” he said. “I love coaching with Bruce. He is dedicated, dependable and is always willing to do whatever the team needs to be successful.

“Bruce is a great asset on the bench providing input at crucial times.”

Coaching has been on Ted’s radar due to his love of working with kids and the preparation that goes in to getting them to compete at the highest level.

Some of the kids he’s coached are now playing at higher levels, a couple of them playing professionally like Trae Bell-Haynes and Rashawn Browne. 

The thing Ferreira enjoys the most is watching kids grow from the first time they join the team until the leave the SBA.

“It’s amazing how hard they work and how quickly they develop,” he said.