On April 2nd, Saint Lucia’s First NCAA Division 1 Freshman Basketball Player, Arnold Henry, held a book signing and speech at The Point. The night was filled with personal and motivational stories, as well as an opportunity to purchase his book called, ‘Hanging On To My Dreams’. Henry is a new resident of Chestermere, and was originally born in Saint Lucia. “The smaller community is what reminds me of home,” Henry says. Henry began his speech by telling attendees that his purpose is to encourage love and positivity. To begin the session he had the group, which consisted of around 30 people, to shout, “Love!” on the count of three. He then went on to ask the well-known question, “Would you rather regret saying something, and wishing you hadn’t, or not saying something, and wishing you had?” This led him to share a poem he had written about his father whom he’d never known. He posted it on Facebook in 2010, where it went viral and one of his brothers deleted him because of it.
However, he was then connected to a sister that he had never met before, and that the family had no knowledge of. In light of his poem titled, ‘I Wish I Knew Him’ going viral, Henry was shook with the sudden realization that he was happy he had shared it because there were people who could relate to his story. It made him feel less alone. Henry came from a broken family, and met more brothers and sisters as he grew older. Keeping a diary since he was 10, it was a way for him to express himself without the fear of being judged.
“I needed an escape, and that’s why I chose sports,” he shares. Basketball was the one thing in life that made him happy when he was younger. Inspired by Michael Jordan, Henry went and tried out for his school’s team. Unfortunately, since it was his first time playing, it did not work out well for him. Henry took the opportunity to persevere and worked hard for an entire year in order to come back and show his coach. His talent was later noticed by a scout and Arnold Henry was rewarded with a scholarship to play college basketball.
Henry left Saint Lucia in 2003 to go to Military School for one year in order to prepare for college, “I thank education for allowing me to find a better life for myself,” he says.
He still holds the title of ‘Saint Lucia’s First NCAA Division 1 Freshman Basketball Player’. When he was younger, his mom didn’t want him to stray to the wrong crowd, and he didn’t want it for himself either. He knew that in order to support and help his family and friends, he had to get to the highest level possible.
Henry hopes to arrange clinics during the summer for kids aged 11-18, and wishes to teach them about the importance of education as well as the game basketball. ”Life starts off with one dream, and now that I am older, I can work towards other dreams as well.”
For more information, please visit www.arnoldhenry.com.
