Norm Guay lifted the photograph by its silver frame and took a long look.
“This is very special,” Guay said.
The day was May 19, 2005, and Guay was coaching the Stella Maris Academy sixth-grade girls basketball team. His daughter, Ashlee, was a member of the squad.
“Out on the court and when we're out in public, I really try to show no favoritism or emotion toward her,” Guay said. “I treat her just like any other player, and she understands that.”
Even in moments of triumph.
On that day, Stella Maris won the league championship, surviving an opponent's furious rally at end of regulation. After the final buzzer, Guay gave high-fives to his players, but he and Ashlee waited before celebrating together.
And they waited. And they waited.
Finally, once the gym began to empty, the coach and player reverted to being father and daughter. They embraced in a hug that was captured by a team parent's camera.
“It was an emotional time, right after the game,” Guay said. “I think everyone was almost out of the gym at that point, so finally we were able to acknowledge each other.”
Today, the photograph sits in a wooden cabinet in the living room of the Guay home in Clairemont. It is a reminder of how Guay and Ashlee learned long ago to flip the switch in their relationship between coach-player and father-daughter.
The pair will be in action this week when the Academy of Our Lady of Peace varsity takes the floor in the San Diego Classic girls basketball tournament.
Guay is head coach for OLP. Ashlee, a sophomore, is the starting point guard for the Pilots. Her brother, Justin Guay, a senior at St. Augustine High, is the team manager. Dana Guay, wife and mother, said she feels left out.
“I always tell my friends that once basketball season starts, I'm a basketball widow,” Dana joked. “I'm all by myself. If I don't go to the games, I won't ever see any of them.”
The Guay family is immersed in the framework of the team, but Norm – careful not to let the family ties become a distraction – makes sure the switch is flipped with Ashlee.
“He always treats her like she is just like any other player on the team, as if they are not related at all,” said Ari Meek, senior shooting guard for the Pilots. “Unless you knew that they were related, you wouldn't know because he doesn't have that interaction with her that goes beyond a player-coach relationship.”
Even so, when Ashlee earned a spot on the OLP varsity team last year as a freshman, some assumed she was on the team simply because her father was the coach.
“That's what made me work harder,” said Ashlee, 15. “I needed to prove not just to everyone but to myself that I made the team not because of my dad, but because I tried hard and worked just like everyone else.”
Ashlee responded by excelling at point guard, averaging 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds while leading OLP with 6.6 assists and 3.8 steals per game. The Pilots finished 23-7, the program's first 20-win season.
The San Diego Classic offers the OLP team its first chance to build on last season's success.
“The combination of the father and daughter builds up our team chemistry, and I think it is going to take us a long way this year,” Ari said.
The Guays may have to find space for more celebratory photos in their living room cabinet.
Michael Gehlken is a Union-Tribune intern:
michael.gehlken@uniontrib.com
SAN DIEGO CLASSIC
What: Girls basketball tournament
When: Today through Sunday
Background: Competition features 328 high school club teams in four divisions. The tournament, the largest of its kind in the nation, is in its 22nd year and includes many of the top teams in the West. The girls must attend the high school they represent. There are no all-star teams entered.
Sites: University of California San Diego, San Diego State University, Alliant International University, University of San Diego, San Diego City College, Westview High, La Costa Canyon High
Tip-off: Games begin at 10 a.m. today at SDSU and Alliant and 11 a.m. today at UCSD. Games begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow through Sunday at all sites.
Championships: 5 p.m. Sunday at UCSD's RIMAC Arena, 3A Division (large-school varsity); 4 p.m., 2A Division (small-school varsity); 3 p.m., Open Division (varsity); 2 p.m. 1A Division (JV)
Admission: $6 daily, $22 tournament pass
Web site: sandiegoclassic.com
