February 4, 2021
Lifelong best friends team up to ask WhyNotYou?
Chuder Teny, a former Golden Hawks and current assistant coach for Laurier men's basketball, and Telloy Simon, a member of the Windsor Lancers, discuss their development program WhyNotYou.
"As athletes we tend to continually ask ourselves why? And with so many Canadians playing professional sports now, why not you? We want young athletes to constantly challenge themselves, believe in themselves, and become the best version of themselves."
Chuder Teny (Kitchener, Ont.), Wilfrid Laurier University grad and current assistant for the men's basketball team he previously played for from 2014-2018, knows a lot about the importance of self-confidence in sport. He co-founded WhyNotYou, a basketball skills development program, with Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont.), a current student-athlete who shoots hoops for the University of Windsor, to instill mental and physical toughness in young athletes in the community.
"Instead of being down on oneself we want young athletes to use all those things as motivation and use us or other fellow athletes as motivation," Teny explains. "It takes hard work, determination, and a strong mindset to make it through tough circumstances. It's either you feel sorry for yourself or you continue to move forward and persevere."
Without hard work and perseverance, Teny reveals that he and Simon would not be where they are today. "Telloy and I both got MVP in high school, why not you? We came to Canada as refugees and both graduated high school with honours, why not you? We both got recruited to play at the next level, why not you?" he says.
Simon seconds the sentiment: "I never thought I would make it this far. Unknowingly I have been applying the "WhyNotYou" philosophy throughout my athletic career by conquering adversities and not allowing doubts to take control. It's easy to feed into self-pity when things don't go your way but the WhyNotYou philosophy was set in place to motivate athletes to reach their full potential on and off the court."
With similar experiences in their varsity careers, it was an easy decision for the two to form WhyNotYou. "The game of basketball has taken the two of us so far that we simply wanted to share our experiences and knowledge with the next generations of athletes," Simon continues. "It was also fitting for the two of us to do it together because we have both trained student-athletes all year round throughout our university careers."
The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to impede the ability for young athletes to capitalize on their potential, but WhyNotYou provides a space for this development with free scheduled Zoom workouts and short videos posted on the program's Instagram page. Prior to the pandemic, the program provided personalized training sessions and has plans to return to this format with the addition of basketball camps when it is safe to do so.
In the meantime, "we are constantly encouraging athletes to take advantage of our free virtual workouts," Teny says. "Every student-athlete still needs physical activity for their mental and physical well-being. Remaining active through the pandemicgoes a long way for an athlete's mental health."
A WhyNotYou workout is equally challenging mentally and physically. "In our workouts we instil core values such as a positive attitude, discipline, perseverance and confidence," Teny explains. "Some of the drills we teach these athletes can be challenging at times and can get frustrating but that's what we want at times. We want players to realize it is okay to fail. Success will come afterwards as long as they continue to work hard and maintain a positive mindset."
Simon, a student with plans of becoming a teacher, finds coaching with WhyNotYou an especially rewarding position because of the ability to teach young athletes valuable lessons. "My goal is to try and to make it as easy as possible for the next athletes to achieve their goals. Based on my experiences of playing both NCAA & U SPORTS, I feel that I have enough basketball knowledge to help develop their basketball skills," he explains. "As a teacher in training, I will [also] be accessible to athletes in ensuring that they are taking the necessary courses to get them into colleges or universities. I am so grateful and honoured to help out in whatever way I can."
He is well aware of the public position he is in, not just as a coach but as a varsity athlete for the Windsor Lancers. "I am motivated at times to give it my all because I know [there is] always somebody watching. I see kids at our games all the time and I make sure I give it my all because I know they are watching. As a coach what motivates me is to see athletes succeed on and off the court but most importantly as people."
For both Simon and Teny, being successful on and off the court comes down to a simple question: why not you?
"As athletes we tend to continually ask ourselves why? And with so many Canadians playing professional sports now, why not you? We want young athletes to constantly challenge themselves, believe in themselves, and become the best version of themselves."
Chuder Teny (Kitchener, Ont.), Wilfrid Laurier University grad and current assistant for the men's basketball team he previously played for from 2014-2018, knows a lot about the importance of self-confidence in sport. He co-founded WhyNotYou, a basketball skills development program, with Telloy Simon (Kitchener, Ont.), a current student-athlete who shoots hoops for the University of Windsor, to instill mental and physical toughness in young athletes in the community.
"Instead of being down on oneself we want young athletes to use all those things as motivation and use us or other fellow athletes as motivation," Teny explains. "It takes hard work, determination, and a strong mindset to make it through tough circumstances. It's either you feel sorry for yourself or you continue to move forward and persevere."
Without hard work and perseverance, Teny reveals that he and Simon would not be where they are today. "Telloy and I both got MVP in high school, why not you? We came to Canada as refugees and both graduated high school with honours, why not you? We both got recruited to play at the next level, why not you?" he says.
Simon seconds the sentiment: "I never thought I would make it this far. Unknowingly I have been applying the "WhyNotYou" philosophy throughout my athletic career by conquering adversities and not allowing doubts to take control. It's easy to feed into self-pity when things don't go your way but the WhyNotYou philosophy was set in place to motivate athletes to reach their full potential on and off the court."
With similar experiences in their varsity careers, it was an easy decision for the two to form WhyNotYou. "The game of basketball has taken the two of us so far that we simply wanted to share our experiences and knowledge with the next generations of athletes," Simon continues. "It was also fitting for the two of us to do it together because we have both trained student-athletes all year round throughout our university careers."
The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to impede the ability for young athletes to capitalize on their potential, but WhyNotYou provides a space for this development with free scheduled Zoom workouts and short videos posted on the program's Instagram page. Prior to the pandemic, the program provided personalized training sessions and has plans to return to this format with the addition of basketball camps when it is safe to do so.
In the meantime, "we are constantly encouraging athletes to take advantage of our free virtual workouts," Teny says. "Every student-athlete still needs physical activity for their mental and physical well-being. Remaining active through the pandemicgoes a long way for an athlete's mental health."
A WhyNotYou workout is equally challenging mentally and physically. "In our workouts we instil core values such as a positive attitude, discipline, perseverance and confidence," Teny explains. "Some of the drills we teach these athletes can be challenging at times and can get frustrating but that's what we want at times. We want players to realize it is okay to fail. Success will come afterwards as long as they continue to work hard and maintain a positive mindset."
Simon, a student with plans of becoming a teacher, finds coaching with WhyNotYou an especially rewarding position because of the ability to teach young athletes valuable lessons. "My goal is to try and to make it as easy as possible for the next athletes to achieve their goals. Based on my experiences of playing both NCAA & U SPORTS, I feel that I have enough basketball knowledge to help develop their basketball skills," he explains. "As a teacher in training, I will [also] be accessible to athletes in ensuring that they are taking the necessary courses to get them into colleges or universities. I am so grateful and honoured to help out in whatever way I can."
He is well aware of the public position he is in, not just as a coach but as a varsity athlete for the Windsor Lancers. "I am motivated at times to give it my all because I know [there is] always somebody watching. I see kids at our games all the time and I make sure I give it my all because I know they are watching. As a coach what motivates me is to see athletes succeed on and off the court but most importantly as people."
For both Simon and Teny, being successful on and off the court comes down to a simple question: why not you?
