When you spend a whole summer off-season going to a gym and firing hundreds of shots at a basketball hoop every day as just part of a workout routine, you have probably demonstrated a desire to succeed at your sport.

For Vanessa Nobrega of the Varsity Blues women’s basketball team, that was what consumed a large part of last summer, a time of year many university students use to escape that sort of daily grind. However, Nobrega is a person with lofty ambitions, and is willing to sacrifice to achieve them.

“She’s probably the only girl I know who took 500 shots every day all summer long,” said her U of T coach, Michele Belanger. “There’s nobody who’s more diligent about working on her game.”

Nobrega was just a second-year student this past season, but she was a key player for the Blues, helping them to their first OUA championship in five years. She was third on the team in scoring and a defensive stopper on the perimeter, showcasing a well-rounded game early in her CIS career. Nobrega has also said she does not want U of T to be the last stop in her basketball-playing days, expressing a desire to follow in the footsteps of Klara Danes, who went on to play professionally in Sweden after completing her eligibility with the Blues a year ago.

“For a long time I’ve had this dream of playing professionally in Europe, travelling there and experiencing that lifestyle,” said Nobrega, who had a taste of what that might be like when in grade 11 she went to Italy with a team coached by Belanger and Cathy Casey (assistant).

Nobrega’s role with the Blues evolved somewhat faster than expected last season when starting shooting guard Elanna Robson left the team for personal reasons midway through the campaign. At that point, some observers might have expected a drop-off in the team’s performance, or that Nobrega might not be ready to fill the shoes of arguably U of T’s top player, but that proved to be far from what happened.

“When Elanna decided not to continue, we just didn’t miss a beat,” said Belanger, who said she actually expected Nobrega to be a key player on the team in her rookie year.

“Gosh, I was hoping for her to kind of come out of her shell (in her first) year.”

Like many first-year players, though, it took Nobrega time to get a feel for the new level of competition she was up against and find her role on the team. With Robson already gone and a pair of other fourth-year players, Vanessa Richardson and Holly Pagnan, not coming back next season, Nobrega will be one of the team leaders next year.

Nobrega said the fact that she will be one of the veterans on next year’s team is surprising, but she believes she is ready to take on that challenge.

“I can’t believe I’m going into third year. It still feels like I’m a rookie in many ways,” said Nobrega. “I’ve counted on Vanessa (Richardson) and Holly (Pagnan) for their support and their guidance, and next year I have to take on that role and make it happen.”

One other difference is that next year’s team will start the season as the defending OUA champions. They’ll start out with the knowledge of what it takes to get to the CIS championships after coming up just short with good teams for four straight seasons prior to this past year. By winning the OUA East final the Blues clinched a berth in the CIS championships, but the league championship came two days later in a win over West division champ Brock. It was a big victory for Nobrega, but she knew it was even bigger for her fourth-year teammates in their last opportunity.

“In the last 20 seconds of the game, Vanessa (Richardson) just looked at me like she couldn’t believe it, because she had never been (to nationals), and I’m just very fortunate to have been able to do it in my second year.”

Disappointment would follow at the CIS championships, as U of T drew defending national champion Regina as a quarterfinal opponent. U of T got blown out in the first half and never quite recovered. While the Blues cleared a big hurdle in winning the OUA championship this season, Nobrega has bigger goals in mind for the team next season.

“It’s great to get (to the CIS championships), but it’s not good enough to get there. You have to get there and you have to win.”

If 500 shots daily this summer equals a similar rate of improvement as it did last summer for Nobrega, opponents may not want to get in her way next season.