It was a rockstar welcome for Chatham’s own Bridget Carleton.
The Chatham native came back home for the Cyclone’s NCAA game against Eastern Michigan University on November 21 at the St. Clair College HealthPlex. Carleton is in her fourth and final year at Iowa State University where she plays guard on the Division 1 Iowa State Cyclones.
The Cyclones beat the Eagles 85-59 as Iowa State improves to 5-0. Carleton played 27 minutes, scored 17 points and had 9 rebounds.
Carleton, Iowa’s first Candian recruit, said getting to come back to her hometown is a surreal experience.
The first stop when she landed in town Tuesday night was going to her parents’ house for a home-cooked meal that her mom prepared for her and over 30 of her teammates and coaches.
The morning before the big game, she spent time visiting her father’s elementary school, King George VI Public School, and meeting the students.
The Iowa State Cyclones take on Eastern Michigan University at the St. Clair College HealthPlex in Chatham on November 21, 2018. The game marked a return to Chatham-Kent for local native Bridget Carleton, who plays guard on the Division 1 team. (Photo by Allanah Wills)
“Chatham is my home it always will be my home. I’m not here very much but I take a lot of pride in being from here and being Canadian,” Carleton said. “It's nice to come back and be able to give back and be kind of an inspiration to other young girls. It means a lot.”
Carleton found out about the game in August and couldn’t believe it was actually happening. She said it’s common for coaches to schedule games near players hometowns during their final year.
This task was easier said than done when it came to setting up a game in Canada. Besides the regular challenges of finding a facility to play in and a team to play against, they also had to take things like crossing the border into consideration. The Cyclone’s had staff members come to Chatham several times over the last few weeks to get a feel for the area.
“To put on an NCAA event in a facility that normally doesn’t have one is different,” said head coach Bill Fennelly. “There was a lot of work involved but our school was very supportive of it and the people of St. Clair and the people in the community have worked really hard. I think it was a labour of love for a lot of people.”
The game has been heavily supported by the local community and seven weeks before it took place, the 1,000 available seats in the sports complex were already 90 per cent sold out.
Carleton, whose last game before coming to Chatham was in front of a crowd of 10,000, said that the support from the community has been amazing and she got emotional reflecting on her journey and getting to play in front of friends and family.
“I grew up in a small town and I've come so far,” Carleton said. “Who would have thought I’d be playing divisional basketball in Iowa and playing for the national team. I think that's just always been a dream of mine and the fact that it became a reality, I worked my way up step by step.”
Carleton graduates in May and says she plans to continue her professional sports career by playing overseas or in The Women's National Basketball Association and has her sights set on eventually representing her country in the Olympics.
The Iowa State Cyclones take on Eastern Michigan University at the St. Clair College HealthPlex in Chatham on November 21, 2018. The game marked a return to Chatham-Kent for local native Bridget Carleton, who plays guard on the Division 1 team. (Photo by Allanah Wills)
The Iowa State Cyclones take on Eastern Michigan University at the St. Clair College HealthPlex in Chatham on November 21, 2018. The game marked a return to Chatham-Kent for local native Bridget Carleton, who plays guard on the Division 1 team. (Photo by Allanah Wills)