It was late April.
Emily Briggs was minding her own business, teaching, coaching basketball, just another day in her busy Moncton-based life.
She received a text out of the blue asking if she would be interested in returning to the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association with the Fredericton Freeze.
Already loaded with local interscholastic coaching commitments, teaching full-time and head coach of Basketball New Brunswick’s under-15 girls, Briggs’ appointment book was overflowing.
She took a day, responded and felt ‘what the heck, let’s give it a whirl.’
Briggs did indeed return to the MWBA court, albeit in a reduced role, but played a handful of games for the Freeze, certainly helping the team early in the season with an injury-riddled squad.
‘We were certainly grateful for Emily finding time to play and helping us our when we needed some veteran experience,’ said Freeze head coach and general manager, Bram Russell. ‘She knows the game and came in prepared. She played a role for us that we needed.’
Briggs is a veteran of 29 MWBA games, spending time with the Moncton Mystics, Saint John’s Port City Fog and the Freeze. She was named the league’s Community Leadership Award winner in 2024 while with the Mystics.
She was a point guard staple for Moncton’s Crandall University Chargers at the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association, arriving in the city following a stellar interscholastic career with Carleton North High Stars of Florenceville-Bristol.
Briggs turned to coaching during her playing days and has continued that foray, earning her first role as a head coach at the recent Canada Basketball age-class championship in Quebec.
She played for BNB at the national level, has been an assistant coach at the Canadian event and now has experience as a head coach for her province.
Briggs spoke with BNB prior to the event and we are re-producing that article with thanks to the provincial organization:
Interviewing Emily Briggs
Emily Briggs’ pride and passion for representing her province is something she instills in young athletes.
The Basketball New Brunswick alum, and former ACAA All-Conference guard, reflects on her playing experience and desire to support the next generation of athletes as the head coach for the provincial under-15 girls’ team.
“The opportunity to represent BNB as an athlete was a highlight of my playing career, always pushing me to grow my overall game,’ she said. ‘That is the same goal I have with coaching. Getting involved with BNB early served as a great opportunity to meet some amazing people, competing with and against many very talented athletes. Working with, learning from, and being challenged to grow by (BNB) coaches.I set goals and wanted to instill habits that could help me take basketball as far as I could. Fortunately, I was able to compete against provincial and national level athletes, and then onto a five-year dual-sport (soccer) university career.”
Briggs spent her entire five-year post-secondary playing career with Crandall. The guard, from Bath, NB, was a floor general and constant presence for the Chargers as she averaged over thirty-one minutes per game for her career.
She reached the peak of her individual success with the Chargers in 2018-19, when her 15.2 points per game and 2.8 steals per game saw her claim ACAA All-Conference Second Team honours. She finished post-secondary having averaged double-digit points in four of her five seasons and averaging 2.5 steals per game.
Since graduating from Crandall, she has remained in the Moncton area, teaching and coaching.
– Emily Briggs returned to the MWBA court this season with Fredericton. (Jen Morehouse Graphic)
