From player to Ottawa BlackJacks president: Mark Wacyk’s lifelong passion for basketball
Glebite Mark Wacyk is the newly appointed president of the Ottawa Blackjacks basketball team.
Photo: Robyn Best
From player to Ottawa BlackJacks president: Mark Wacyk’s lifelong passion for basketball
By Robyn Best
Mark Wacyk has always had a love for basketball.
“Basketball was like a unifying thing . . . we all just focused on playing and being teammates,” he said of his varsity basketball days at the University of Ottawa. He loved the game so much that he stayed involved after graduating.
After being an assistant coach at uOttawa and volunteering with the Ottawa Shooting Stars, Wacyk can now add president of the Ottawa BlackJacks to his resumé.
“It was a lot of emotions,” he said of the moment when he got the call about his new job. “I’m still pinching myself that I get to combine my business experience with the passion I have for basketball.”
Wacyk has worked in many different roles, including as an advisor at multiple businesses and technology companies. He says the skills he’s learned will help him in this new job. “Any kind of professional organization requires some business disciplines and some procedures and processes.”
One of his first priorities is getting the BlackJacks name out there. One way he’s hoping to do this is with a recent partnership with the Glebe Neighbourhood Activities Group. The group offers a wide variety of programs for both children and adults.
Wacyk has lived in the Glebe for 14 years. “All my children went through GNAG as participants and then in their leadership program,” Wacyk says. “I see the value of GNAG, it’s had such a positive influence over my family.”
While he can’t share details yet, he hopes this partnership will show that they’re “trying to positively impact the community.”
The goal is to reinforce the idea that the BlackJacks are an Ottawa team that cares about its community. “Connecting with the community to ensure that the community is a big part of this is an important part to make this an Ottawa-based team,” Wacyk says. “When I say Ottawa-based, I mean a team that has Ottawa people surrounding it and running it and making sure it succeeds.”
Many of the players on the team come from Ottawa or surrounding cities and so is most of the staff. The general manager, many of the coaches and other staff members are all from Ottawa. To Wacyk, this makes it a team that is uniquely Ottawa-based, different from local franchises in other sports.
While trying to expand awareness of the BlackJacks throughout the city, Wacyk says the fans are really what makes the game. “(The fans) find that the caliber of play is great, and the entertainment value is fantastic. What I found is once people come to the game, they get hooked on it and they want to come again.”
Wacyk thinks it’s the way the game is played that makes it a fun experience for the fans. “With basketball you can sit basically right on the floor. When there’s a loose ball (a player) might fling themselves into the audience and fall on someone.”
Another plan for the team is to host a school-day game in May. While not all the details are sorted out yet, the plan is to “get (the kids) in the arena, have them experience basketball,” Wacyk says.
The BlackJacks finished third in the Eastern conference last year. Wacyk is hoping for more wins this year and finish high enough to give them playoff game in their own arena. “Having an important game where we’re hosting a playoff game to get to the final four would be a big achievement.”
Wacyk’s biggest hope is that the game continues to be one that brings Canadians together. “Our game celebrates that everybody loves basketball. It doesn’t matter where you come from, or how long you’ve been in Canada. It says to me that basketball is a great unifier.”
The BlackJacks will be back on the court in May for the 2025 season.
Robyn Best is a journalism student with a minor in criminology and history at Carleton University.