By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News

Kiki White has come a long way in basketball over the past year.

Now, Kiki is going a long way for basketball.

Kiki and three of her Chatham-Kent Wildcats U-14 basketball teammates are going to Taiwan this summer to compete in the 2026 International Children’s Games.

Callie McMullin, Zuri Willder, Kate Regan and Kiki will be leaving in late July for Hualien, Taiwan, where the 3-on-3 basketball portion of the Games takes place Aug. 3-5.

“Excited,” the quiet Kiki said about looking forward to the trip.

“Exploring new places … bonding with my teammates and getting to know them better … new experiences … meeting new friends,” Kiki said, about some of the things she’s looking forward to the most in her Southeast Asian adventure.

Kiki, 13, is graduating from Ridgetown District Grade 7-8 this week, where she enjoyed a remarkable athletic season wearing the Royals’ jersey.

She led the Royals to an undefeated season in the South Kent girls’ basketball league, where her 19 points led Ridgetown to a 27-11 championship-game victory over the Harwich Raleigh Wildcats.

Last week, Kiki was the 13-year-old girls’ champion at the inaugural Lambton Kent elementary school track and field meet in Sarnia.

Kiki won the 200 metres and long jump, finished second in the 100 metres and added a third gold medal with teammates Maria Brown, Makayla Jones and Irelynn Harburn as they won the 4×100 relay.

Kiki was also the 13-year-old girls’ champion at the South Kent Conference meet earlier this month in Chatham, winning the 100, 200, and long jump.

Despite her success, she admits track is secondary to basketball.

“I like the field events, but running isn’t my favourite thing to do,” she admitted.

Kiki wound up getting expert coaching this season from Irma (nee Grant) Isaac, an OFSAA 100-metre gold medallist in her days at John McGregor and a multi-provincial and national champion at the University of Windsor.

“The first time we saw her run was in Grade 4, it blew our minds,” said Kiki’s mother, Ashley (nee Liberty). “She’s a natural athlete.”

In basketball, however, she was a work in progress.

“Grade 7, I was really bad,” Kiki admitted, with a laugh. “The only basics I knew were where the foul line was.”

However, after her Grade 7 season, she was rarely seen without a basketball. She spent hours on the Naahii Ridge outdoor courts near the family’s home, practising with her father, Owino, seven days a week. She also attended open gym sessions for the Wildcats last summer, where she caught the eye of U-14 coach Tim Regan.

“I saw her and thought, ‘Who is this athlete?’” Regan recalled that he invited Kiki to the team tryouts later in August, and she made the team.

“We had 11 girls come back, and she was the 12th player, but she fit right in,” he stated. “I think at first, with all of the returning players, she was a little intimidated, but she stuck with it.”

“I told her she had the athletic ability that she was going to catch up, and she really did,” Regan said.

Kiki wound up getting more floor time as the year went on and was a regular by the time the Wildcats won a bronze medal in the provincial tournament in the spring.

She was named the team’s most improved player at the Wildcats’ organizational year-end awards banquet.

Regan was impressed by Kiki’s improvement not only in her skills but in her confidence.

“Her pure athleticism, she’s so fast,” Regan said of Kiki’s natural ability. “On defence, she would sneak up on people, steal the ball and go down on a fast break.

“And her leaping ability is awesome,” he stated.

“I would say ‘box out,’ and she would say, ‘why should I box out when I can just jump up and get the rebound?’” he said, with a laugh.

Regan said Kiki was the team’s best free-throw shooter, mainly because teams had to foul her to defend against her speed.

“The best thing, she does all this with a smile on her face,” Regan said. “It’s so much fun to see an athlete have a love for a game, to develop that quickly and see her excel at it that quickly.”

Regan, a guidance counsellor and basketball coach at McGregor, said he is looking forward to seeing Kiki – along with five other Wildcats’ teammates – wearing the Panthers’ uniforms next school year, as the White family recently moved to Chatham.

“I’m excited to see her in high school. I think she’s going to turn heads in a lot of sports,” he said.

Brittany Northcott, the Royals’ girls’ basketball coach, shared her excitement about Kiki’s future after seeing her progress from Grade 7 to 8.

“Her improvement from last year to this year is just crazy,” Northcott said. “Kiki brought a level of leadership; she helped orchestrate things on the court.”

“Her time with the Wildcats certainly helped her development,” Northcott said, as Kiki had already played about three months of OBA basketball before the Royals’ season began in January.

It was earlier this spring when the call went out for Wildcats’ girls in the 14-year-old range interested in trying out for a 3-of-3 team to go to Taiwan for the International Children’s Games.

Callie, Zuri, Kate and Kiki were the only ones who responded – and, led by coach Keegan Brennan, a teacher and basketball coach at Tecumseh Public School in Chatham, the four girls are headed to Taiwan.

The games are played on a half-court with a maximum time limit of 12 minutes, and the first team to score 21 points wins.

The girls have conducted several fundraisers to help cover the trip expenses. The next event is a barbecue on Saturday, July 12, at the Chatham Sobey’s grocery store from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The 3-on-3 basketball girls will be joined by the Chatham Pool Sharks, who are sending a nine-person team to the International Children’s Games.

The two groups were recently recognized at a Chatham-Kent Council meeting.

The local contingent is partnering with local businesses and individuals to secure financial support through sponsorships to send these young athletes on a once-in-a-lifetime athletic and cultural experience.

Anyone interested in making a financial contribution to help Kiki, her teammates and swimmers as they represent Chatham-Kent on the international stage can send an email to manager@teamchathamicg.net for information.