Lifetime Member takes home prestigious award

Every year, the KYBA gives out an award in honour of the legendary (late) former president who put his heart and soul into the organization for over two decades, Michael Rider.

The award is presented every year at the KYBA Annual General Meeting, and is given to a member that his made vast contributions to the well-being of the association for numerous years. This year's winner exemplifies what it means to be a Kanata Cavalier. This year's winner was Jayson Saikaley.

Jayson began his run with the KYBA in 2005 when his oldest son Brendan first began playing House League. Brendan was the first of three Saikaley boys to play in the KYBA, followed by Darryk and Jayden, the latter of whom plays for his dad on Ottawa Next Level. "I have run the gauntlet in the KYBA", said Saikaley. "I started with house league in 2005, then Selects, then Cavs, then Ottawa Next Level."

Saikaley has been the coach of various Ottawa Next Level teams, including the first ever ONL U11 team back in 2012, a team that he led to Division 3 Gold at the Ontario Cup. Since that time, Saikaley had coached everywhere from U11-U13, and is slated to coach the U14 Next Level squad in 2016-2017. Saikaley feels that his philosophy on coaching is what breeds his immense success. "I am a huge believer in chemistry and that all players on the team must matter in order to be successful. My philosophy is to treat all 12 players as individuals in skill development. Our team is only ever as good as our last player."

Saikaley joined the KYBA Executive in 2014 as the Director of Kanata Selects, which is a program geared towards athletes who have had success in house league, but aren't quite ready to make the leap to competitive. It's a program, Saikaley says, that is vital to the success of the entire organization. "Selects gives house league players an opportunity to develop their skills by having extra court time, more games, and stronger competition against EOBA teams."

Saikaley has given back to the KYBA community in many other ways as well. He coached a U16 Major Midget Girls Selects team this past season (in addition to his ONL team), works tirelessly to ensure the success of the Selects program, and even provided his DJ services to multiple KYBA events. His main reason for giving back? "I want to give back to the game that I truly love. Basketball helped guide me to a better life when I was 15. It taught me how to work hard, stay focused and to help out (and count on) teammates." One of Saikaley's biggest contributions to the KYBA of late was his influence in re-naming the annual Little Cavaliers Novice Tournament to the Mike Rider Little Cavaliers Tournament, which makes taking home the Michael Rider Award all the more special to Jayson. "Mike always said if I ever needed anything in the KYBA just to ask. To have my name linked to a man who dedicated over 30 years of his life to this association is an honour. I had the opportunity to coach his grandson, Austin, and to get to know his family over the years, and it's clear that, because of this great man, the game still lives on in them."

The KYBA extends a huge congratulations to Jayson and his family on receiving this award. We know that, without a doubt, Mike would have it no other way.