"Without The Adversities I Experienced Throughout My Life, I Would Have Never Became A Professional Athlete..." The Basketball Story Of Joel Friesen.
In any given situation or circumstance, adversity will always appear in anyone’s journey to greatness. While adversity is weighted differently in any situation, embracing it is more beneficial than hiding from it as it is an integral aspect of human nature. For Joel Friesen, dealing with adversity was no stranger to him as he was placed in various situations designed for him to give up. Whether it was suffering a potential career-ending injury that happened earlier in his career to experiencing being cut from an organization, these experiences are the reasons why Joel Friesen is a multiple-time NBLC champion and All-Star. This story will focus on how Joel Friesen surfaced as a professional basketball player while outlining the various tests he successfully overcame.
Born on August 16, 1990, in Brandon, Friesen lived a short life in Manitoba due to his mother receiving a golden opportunity for nursing in British Columbia. As a kid, Friesen was an independent person who was the only child accompanied by his mother on a daily basis. For Friesen, his mother was the only person he had as an immediate family, which felt challenging at times; however, he managed to make the best out of the situation. His mother was the closest person in his life as she was his biggest fan and his top supporter. She was always there for him and was his biggest role model growing up. Even though he did not have a father due to a terrible accident that occurred when he was just a few months old, Friesen was never vengeful about the situation and instead tried to be the best man that he could be. His journey to sports was heavily impacted by his father despite a relationship ever formed. Before he was born, Friesen’s father played basketball for Brandon University and won multiple championships, which sparked a competitive winning side to Joel Friesen.
Even though it was difficult not to have a father present in his life, Friesen never viewed it as something that defined him and instead worked towards building himself to becoming a better person. All Friesen ever needed to understand was that his father was a winner and a champion. This mentality was integrated into his mind at a young age, which introduced his sports career.
While playing professional basketball was the sport and career Friesen would choose, soccer was the first sport that caught Freisen’s attention. From the age of 9-14, Friesen was obsessed with soccer and felt that this was the sport he would play for the rest of his life. Although soccer was his favourite, Friesen tried his best to play every sport in school to develop physical literacy. Playing various sports expanded his athletic mobility while developing various aerobics that would coincide with his basketball career. However, as much as he loved soccer, he had limitations in playing due to how much it rained in Fraser Valley. This caused Friesen to lose passion for soccer slowly, and as a result, he would confide with basketball, a sport that mostly involved the indoors, which he valued.
“Before I played basketball, I was pretty big into soccer. I think playing in multiple sports and doing different physical activities growing up helped benefit my physical literacy.”
“I was first motivated to play basketball because growing up in the Fraser Valley, it rained a lot, and I wanted to be inside. My passion for soccer ran out, and I didn’t see a future in it. I played it “seriously” from age 9-14.”
Besides playing sports daily, Friesen would prioritize hanging out with his neighbourhood friends while spending time with family. If he weren’t doing that, he would be doing his homework, play video games, read a book or watch videos on youtube. Despite sports being his top focus, he always made time to find balance in his life and learn aspects outside of sports. Especially when reflecting on his sports journey, Joel Friesen had this to say when asked what he values the most about basketball.
“I value these life lessons it helped me implement into whom I am now: Being punctual, working hard even when it sucks, being a sponge, taking criticism, leading however possible, working with others, impacting people’s lives in positive ways, doing whatever it takes to achieve your goals. - These are characteristics I’ll be able to carry on in life with when basketball is over and continue to be successful with.”
Basketball for Friesen was more than just a sport or a ball entering a basket. This “sport” was a sanctuary for Friesen to learn and absorb various life lessons that helped shape the man he is today. From the different relationships he has made over the course of his illustrious career to implementing a unique culture to his day to day life, basketball was definitely more than just a ball bouncing on a hardwood floor. With that being said, let’s dive into the prosperous basketball career of Joel Friesen!
Joel Friesen’s Basketball Career
2007- Team BC - Starting PG- U-17 Nationals Bronze medalist
2008- Yale Lions - Friesen would win a provincial AAA championship while being crowned the MVP, an award that many Canadian players have won, including former NBA players Steve Nash and Robert Sacre.
2008/2009- After an incredible high school career, Joel Friesen would commit to the University of Fraser Valley in hopes of becoming a starter for the school’s basketball team. However, Friesen would rupture his ACL on an open run, which was shocking and unexpected for the young recruit. The worst part was, Friesen’s career was at an all-time high making this set-back a major blow. All of his goals and dreams that he had planned out felt as if it vanished before his eyes. Rather than feeling defeated, Friesen would enter the following season with a new mentality of returning stronger, more athletic, and a better basketball player.
2010-2012 - University of the Fraser Valley - helped take a team freshly into the Usport level (CIS at the time) to a Canada West Silver medal and 4th in the country. Friesen would make the All-Rookie team and 2 Canada West All-Star appearances.
2012/2013 - Transferred to the University of Alberta as a redshirt
2013/2014 - Missed half the season with a wrist surgery, then went on to win the CW championship and National Bronze medal.
2014/2015 - Friesen would enter his Senior year of being a member of the U of A Bears while being named a CW (Canada West) All-Star and most efficient player in CW (Canada West).
2015/2016 - After his college career, Friesen would join the Niagara River Lions but would be shortly cut from Niagara’s training camp. However, the Halifax Hurricanes were impressed by his production and, as a result, would sign him where he would help lead his team to their first NBLC championship while becoming an All-Canadian All-Star.
2016/2018- Once his Halifax days came to an end, he would sign with the London Lightning, where he would win two more NBLC championships, which would equal to three championships in a row! Friesen would make another Canadian All-Star team to top it all off, which granted him a spot on the Team Canada Olympic roster!
2017- First Team Canada experience, made the team as an alternate.
2018- He made the Canadian SMNT roster and win in Chile.
2018/2019 - Friesen would join the KW Titans, where he would knock off his former team in the playoffs.
Summer 2019 - Joel Friesen in the summer of 2019 would make history and become the 1st overall draft pick in the CEBL draft as a member of the FV Bandits.
2019/2020 - Friesen would join the BC Odesa (Ukraine) and led his team to the best record in franchise history. His team would also go on to beating other FIBA Cup teams and former league champions multiple times.
Despite all the adversities that Friesen experienced throughout his life, he never allowed his situation to define who he is. Instead of giving up or feeling uncertain, Friesen kept on pushing forward as he wanted to be just like his role models and all the sports icons of the world. When he tore his ACL, that was a traumatic experience, yet he would still follow his father’s legacy and win numerous championships while even representing team Canada! His basketball journey was filled with variety as he played numerous sports along the way while learning various lessons that would heighten his legacy as a Canadian great. The lesson that can be learned about Friesen’s basketball journey is never to shy away from being great. You may experience turbulence on your journey to success, but at the end of the day, it is your choice to make the best of any situation that is given to you. Joel Friesen numerous times was placed with adversities that are almost designed for giving up yet, he kept on pushing through and focused on the positives hence why he will one day be named a Canadian basketball Hall of Famer.
