If you threw a dart at a map of North America, you would most likely hit a spot where at least one member of the BC Lions calls home in the offseason. With the calendar approaching December, many members of the squad have scattered to their winter locales or headed on a vacation destination before officially turning the focus to gearing up for 2017. For Maxx Forde, his upcoming trip to Europe serves a few purposes: watching his sister play pro basketball in Germany and finally meeting his girlfriend’s immediate family in Budapest, Hungary with a few popular tourist destinations also scheduled.
Alexx Forde is in her first season playing forward for Fireballs Bad Aibling of the Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga (DBBL), the highest level of pro women’s hoops in Germany. To say Maxx is a little excited about watching his younger sister play pro hoops would be an understatement.
“They’re at about the midway point of their season and I have been streaming her games online,” Forde said from his home in Seattle. “I can tell through my computer screen that the games are a college-like atmosphere and the fans get really into it. They have a really loyal fan base.”
That type of atmosphere is impressive when you consider Bad Aibling is only a tiny spa town with 18,000 residents, located 56 Kilometres southeast of Munich in the province of Bavaria.
Just like big brother, Alexx parlayed her athletic skills into a productive career at the University of Idaho and as you can imagine, it was quite the eventful sibling rivalry growing up.
“It was definitely competitive. We both played basketball and the one-on-one games were both fun and intense at the same time. She is the most natural and best all-around athlete in our family. I am proud to have seen her chase her goal to play at the pro level.”
Maxx Forde
The two siblings have plenty in common; from their knack for succeeding in sports to the similar spelling of first names, something Maxx says he always chuckles at. “I always give her a hard time because she stole it, I was born first,” the elder Forde says about the double X’s at the end.
Athletics run deep in the Forde family as their Father Brian was a member of the 1994 Grey Cup champion Lions squad and previously spent time in the NFL with New Orleans and Atlanta.
For Maxx, t
he chance to see little sister hoop it up in Germany is only the beginning. He and his girlfriend Petra will also hit up Rome, Venice and Prague before going to see her family in Hungary.
Petra was a water polo star in her home country before earning a scholarship to Arizona State, where she is returning to coach the squad as a graduate assistant. The couple met while Forde was training in Arizona for the CFL Combine and his Pro Day. It only seemed natural that athletics would change his life in that regard as well. “Water Polo is the most popular sport in Hungary,” Forde said. “It will be exciting to see Petra’s homeland for the first time and get to know her family members on a personal basis.”
Forde is also extra excited for one particular part of the European adventure, one that will remind him most about strapping on the pads and preparing for battle.
“I can’t wait to get to the Colosseum in Rome,” the defensive lineman said. “Obviously the stakes were a bit higher and lives were lost
, but what went on there over the course of history is similar to football. I also can’t wait to get to Venice. I have been wanting to go there since Elementary school.”
Make no mistake: once the European excursion is over Forde will be focussed on unfinished business. After spending all of 2015 on the practice squad, the defensive lineman managed to dress for five games this season and recorded four defensive tackles and a pass knockdown while also contributing on special teams. Wally Buono also singled him out as a player who made great strides from the beginning to end of training camp in Kamloops, a development that also made former first round pick Ese Mrabure expendable.
“I’m definitely not content,” Forde insisted. “It was a good step forward but you want to play as much as you can. I am already back at work for 2017. There is unfinished business.”
That type of mindset should for sure bring some good luck to the Fireballs when Forde is in attendance this weekend.
Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com