Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It's not a stretch to say that basketball saved Kristen Monfort-Palomino's life.
It was also the very thing she hated when she quit the sport she'd played since she could walk after her father's life began to spiral out of control from a drug addiction.
When she wrapped up the 2012-13 season for the SAIT Trojans of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, the Calgarian simply walked away from the game.
"The first year after I quit SAIT, I did not touch a ball – didn't want anything to do with it," said Monfort-Palomino, who transferred to the University of Calgary and was walking through the motions as a student and daughter of a struggling father.
"I was just going to school and hanging out in life, but I wanted nothing to do with any of it. I started struggling a lot with depression in that time."
Her father Adonis 'Junior' Palomino – a giant in the Calgary basketball community – lost his battle with addiction and passed away on Jan. 16, 2016.
"I think basketball was honestly my lifeline in terms of where I was at," said Kristen, who is now in her second season with the MacEwan Griffins.
"I think the struggle with my dad's addiction and what my family went through at that time really pushed me over the edge. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have basketball. It's kind of scary to think about actually, but it was definitely my lifeline."
As university athletes from across Canada come together this month for 'Bell Let's Talk' in support of mental health, it's a cause dear to the MacEwan Griffins point guard's heart. Depression took her to a really dark place, but she's since learned she was never alone.
"It was really, really tough," she explained. "During that time when I didn't really like basketball, I suffered a lot with depression and gained a ton of weight. I couldn't even tell you how much.
"Getting back into the gym was hard. It was a struggle every day – it was frustrating, but I had to work for a solid year just to get back to where I was able to compete, remotely at this level. I want to say I dropped about 50 pounds."
After her father died, Monfort-Palomino kept coming back to the biggest connection she had with him – the basketball court where he had spent hours as her longtime coach in her youth.
"I was slowly trying to find my way back to it and then once my dad passed, it really kicked into high gear in terms of this is what I want to do," she explained. "I started playing for him as a memorial for him in trying to deal with the entire situation of his addiction and his passing and feeling a connection to him.
"Once I started getting back to what I needed to be, it became for me again."
The remarkable thing about her journey is not only the weight loss and breaking through the black cloud of depression and into the light, but how unlikely it is that she is now starting at the Canada West level.
In 2016, MacEwan hired Monfort-Palomino's former coach at Sir Winston Churchill high school – Katherine Adams – and the pupil reached out.
Out of competitive basketball for more than three years, with no guarantees of playing time – "I was fully expecting to be redshirting or maybe playing a few minutes here and there" – she came into training camp and won a starting job.
"Once you leave, it's not an easy thing to come back to," said Adams. "Life goes on and some of the personal challenges that she's had to be able to overcome and persevere through have been tremendous.
"I'm incredibly proud to see the work that she's put in and her commitment and dedication to bettering herself to be able to play at this level. She's a really special kid."
Her journey to starting at the Canada West level included some early speed bumps, including a game in an Ontario preseason tournament she'd like to forget.
"The first couple games were super nerve-racking," said Monfort-Palomino. "I think I started the first game in Ontario with like nine turnovers and I wanted to die. I was so mad at myself. But it's how it is. It's an adjustment.
"It's been great. I'm so thankful for where I'm at."
The point guard will lead the Griffins into action against cross-town rival Alberta this week (Thursday, 6 p.m., Atkinson Gym; Saturday, 5 p.m., Saville Centre). As she has throughout her basketball career, she leans on a work ethic instilled at a young age by her mom and dad.
"He and my mom (Chris Monfort) both have very high expectations for us and he was just very stern in what we wanted," she said. "If we said we wanted something, we needed to go (all out) and get it.
"We were always told we have to work 10 times harder than the next person to get what you want and if you're not doing that you don't really want it."
There's no question Monfort-Palomino is a testament to the will, desire and perseverance it takes to be a high-level basketball player and student-athlete.
"Honestly, she's my motivation as well," said her brother Adonis, who plays for the MacEwan men's basketball team. "She's been so strong throughout this whole process. She's always been a person that's put other people before herself and she's really decided in this journey that … 'I want to do this for myself, my dad's here driving me.' She's really determined to do the best for herself."
ON THE COURT ... Thursday's game is MacEwan's annual White Out Celebration ... At half-time of the women's contest, athletes, coaches and teams will be honoured for awards that they've earned in the past year ... MacEwan's official Bell Let's Talk matches will take place on Friday as the Griffins volleyball teams host Regina (6 p.m., Atkinson Gym).
