Elijah Pare has had many significant moments in his career, but he said that his most memorable was on January ‘20’ 2023, when he scored 56 points in a high school game, which was a school record.” It felt memorable,” Pare said.
Assistant coach Joe Tabi said he “remembers that game specifically”, saying, “How can I forget it?”
Elijah started playing basketball in the third grade He mentioned he started playing because his mom was a basketball player.
“She introduced It to me,” Pare said.
As Elijah was growing up, he played on many different teams, including teams from Ottawa, as he always enjoyed playing the sport.
“I enjoyed the sense of purpose it gave me growing up,” said Pare.
Basketball wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Elijah, as there were moments when he felt like basketball was always against him. When he moved out of town for the first time, he played basketball for John Abbot College in Montreal.
He said that nothing was going well for him when he first started playing. He wasn’t getting in the rotation, there were problems at his dorm, and it felt like the world was putting him down. He said basketball always kept him happy even when everything was going bad.
“All I could do was get in the gym and work, and eventually, my coach recognized me,” Pare said.
Elijah mentioned that giving up basketball at that challenging moment would have been a big mistake.
“He will never give up, he will play every minute of each game. I’ve seen him puke during halftime and come right back in the game; he wants to play,” Tabi said.
Elijah was always a very emotional player on and off the court. He described his emotions in basketball as passionate.
“Elijah is a very emotional player; he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he likes to make things happen his way,” Tabi said.
Elijah has had a lot of big games and big emotional wins and losses, and he has faced a lot of adversity during these games.
“When there’s adversity, it makes me want to rise to the occasion,” Pare said.
“He doesn’t let it get to his head,” Tabi said.
Elijah has played on many different courts, but he mentioned that his favourite court is on the Ontario side.
“The refs are better,” he said.
