February 23, 2023 – Perth and District Collegiate Institute (PDCI) student and aspiring journalist Lauren Croth has embarked on an
exciting project of creating a documentary of PDCI’s senior girls basketball team's journey together, which is set to launch Friday, February 24.
Being a journalist and involved in media was an interest that developed for Croth during her Grade 11 Indigenous Voices class. For her final project she did a news broadcast rather than the typical written essay. Later in the year, when COVID-19 restrictions prevented fans from attending basketball games, taking on the role of the team’s social media and communications manager seemed like a natural progression.
The inspiration to create the documentary came after the team won the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (EOSSAA) championship in the fall of 2022 and the idea of having something tangible for the team to look back on in the years that lie ahead. Additionally, Croth used this as an opportunity to hone and advance her interviewing, editing, filming, and journalism skills before she attends Toronto Metropolitan University’s journalism program in September 2023.
“I've always had a love for media, writing, video and photo editing and all that stuff. But I really started to get into journalism in about late Grade 11,” says Croth. “I kind of just connected all the things that I love together because I knew I had a love for English and writing and I knew I had a love for media and sharing stories.”
Croth captured footage of the team's practices, games, and off-court moments over the last two seasons. She’s also been collecting content from other team members from previous years to help round out the documentary.
‘Beyond the Court,’ will showcase the team's basketball journey at PDCI and the years and moments shared by many of the athletes as they played club basketball together.
The team built a special family-like bond, and it was that bond and skillset that led them to an undefeated 2022-2023 Senior Girls Basketball regular season, an EOSSAA championship and a quarterfinal appearance at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) representing Double-A schools.
“When I started creating the documentary [Beyond the Court] and editing it, it was a very long process because I was going through about nine years’ worth of photos and videos. I also wanted to interview each of the girls and ask them important questions surrounding the main idea of the documentary, which is family,” explains Croth. “Many of the girls, when interviewing them, said that our coach, Sean Christy, was like a father figure and as a team we are all sisters to each other. We've created this bond by going over obstacles with each other and losing games together and winning games together and spending time together and watching each other grow into the amazing women we are today.”
"We are immensely proud of Lauren for what she has accomplished and for pursuing her dreams with such determination and passion," says Principal Dean Fournier. "As a school community, we strive to inspire our students to follow their aspirations and take on new challenges. Lauren is a shining example of this spirit and we are honoured to have played a part in her career aspirations. We look forward to seeing Lauren continue to achieve great things and we cannot wait to watch the premiere of Beyond the Court."
Beyond the Court’s trailer can be viewed here. The full feature will debut Friday, February 24, on Vimeo.
For media inquiries, please contact:
April Scott-Clarke
Manager of Communications
Upper Canada District School Board
[email protected]