Yoga, basketball and a lot of sushi: The Simon Chamberlain legacy

Simon Chamberlain enjoys a regimented lifestyle, one that he has tailored to near perfection throughout the years by learning from his loved ones and the community around him.

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball player begins every morning by cooking himself an egg-white, onion and cheese omelet in the kitchen of his downtown apartment just a few blocks from campus. He then blends together frozen berries, spinach, banana, yogurt, and a vitamin-packed plant protein to make for an accompanying smoothie.

Sometimes, if he's feeling adventurous, he will even mix up the fruit combination.

Once he's dressed and ready for the day, the forward will pause for a moment at his front door and ponder at his selection of sneakers. And while he owns a wide variety to choose from with a certain affinity for each shoe, he will always remember the feeling of slipping into his hard-earned, blue and yellow Jordan Foamposites¹ for the first time, almost ten years ago.

¹He and his father had an annual deal going throughout the sweltering summer months of 2013 — they would play 1v1 at the local basketball court, Shelldale, in Guelph all season long. At the end of August, whoever had the most wins was treated to their choice of dinner or shoe.

It was three years of sushi on Simon before he had a winning record, according to the player. But come September, he was sporting brand new Foamposites walking into his high school hallways.

"They were a terrible idea looking back at it," Chamberlain says, with a far-away smile. "Because they're not good basketball shoes, but I just thought they looked cool. So, yeah, I got blue and yellow Foampo's."

Once Simon is out the door and walking toward the subway, he blasts "#3" by Aphex Twin, a synthesized, ambient instrumental track, through his airpods. He says this is also his song of choice to play right before a game, due to its duration of exactly seven minutes and 44 seconds.

"It's the perfect amount of time for me to meditate². A really good chunk of time to just focus is the length of that song," Chamberlain says. "It's also just a good song."

²Simon first learned how to meditate at his mother's dance studio.

Catrina, a professional contemporary dancer, introduced the practice and benefits of meditation to her son at the ripe age of 12 years old.

Today, before every game, Chamberlain finds a comfortable position on the floor or in a chair and takes five to ten minutes to clear his head. He adds that there is no set period of time or goal though, that "you can't win at meditation because you're just trying to think about nothing."

"I think it's really good, especially during exam or playoff season when there's a lot of stuff going on that can really affect how you play," he says. "I think it helps a ton in your performance and having a clear mind when you're playing."

When he arrives at practice, Chamberlain greets his teammates and they'll joke around a little bit in the locker room before heading onto the court.

Simon is a U SPORTS vet.

Prior to signing on with the Bold, the forward played for the Carleton Ravens, a long-time men's basketball rival of the university.

And if it wasn't for program head coach Dave DeAveiro and his hometown community rallying together during the pandemic, Chamberlain might still be in Ottawa³.

³When his stint at Carleton was interrupted in COVID, Simon moved back home with his parents. At first, he struggled to train on his own at the same level as he did in the Ravens varsity program. Fortunately for him, every other hooper in the area, athletes who Chamberlain grew up playing with, was experiencing the same issue.

They began to meet at Shelldale, where they'd played together as children.

"We would play pickup until the sun went down, then go to the convenience store to get a gatorade all together, then get up the next day and do it all over again," Lincoln Rosebush, Simon's TMU Bold teammate, fellow Guelph kid and childhood basketball buddy, says about him and Chamberlain's younger days. He adds that 2020 felt a lot like that.

"We would come out and scrimmage," Chamberlain says. "There'd be guys playing at schools in the States and others who only ever played for fun. It was cool to see how everyone's game had developed over the years."

By the time school and the basketball season had resumed in the Fall 2021 term, Simon decided he wanted more out of himself and his minutes and took the leap from Carleton to TMU. He practiced with the team throughout the 2021-22 season until he could officially join the roster the following year.

"I just remember immediately feeling like everyone is on board with you, getting to know you and where you want to go, figuring out who you are as a person," Chamberlain says about the Bold.

He adds that he clicked with his teammates off the bat, and that the coaching and strength and conditioning staff were nothing but welcoming.

"I knew Dave from before, so there was already a level of comfort there, but Jeremie called me as soon as I reached out and made the effort to get to know me as well," he says. "It felt like family vibes, everyone was just so welcoming – especially because I am kind of a quiet person, and I felt that connection really quickly here."

"We're fortunate to have Simon. He's always in the gym, always trying to make himself better and our team feeds off of him," says DeAveiro. "He's not a real loud guy, but he leads by example and our guys like to follow that."

Leadership, and speaking up despite his quieter personality, is one quality that the athlete says he wants to improve on going into the second half of the season.

"I've been trying to do a good job of it, but I think there's still room for growth there," he says, explaining that while he feels he leads by example off the court, he can use his voice more during gametime and be more communicative as a player.

Still, after the buzzer, Simon's own impact as a leader off the court permeates throughout the daily lives and routines of those around him, and those who look up to him.4

4On game days, Chamberlain leads a meditation for some of the guys on the team, who have taken to his method of de-stressing and focusing before playing time.

In the stands, the young Toronto Lords kids who Simon volunteer coaches with in his spare time will hold up Crayola-coloured signs and chant "MVP" as he dribbles the ball and makes a shot, even on nights where he's "not having a great game."

"A lot of people helped me get to this point in life and in basketball, and I feel like I at least owe it to do it for someone else, pay it forward a little bit," Simon says. "And I just enjoy it. I enjoy the game of basketball and just being around it."

The forward says his goal is to play at a professional level and keep playing for as long as he can, spreading his love and passion for the sport while he's at it. But for now, he'll take it day by day, practice by practice, smoothie by smoothie.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Simon Chamberlain: G/F; 6' 7"; 2

#11 Lincoln Rosebush: F; 6' 10"; 4

Players Mentioned

#9 Simon Chamberlain
: 6' 7"; 2
: G/F

#11 Lincoln Rosebush
: 6' 10"; 4
: F

Players Mentioned

#9 Simon Chamberlain

#11 Lincoln Rosebush

Players Mentioned

#9 Simon Chamberlain

#11 Lincoln Rosebush