Canada’s women’s basketball team ready for their Pan-Am close-up

Share

Lisa Thomaidis has been on the coaching staff of Canada's women's basketball team since 2001, and she can't remember the squad playing a meaningful game on Canadian soil during that time. That is finally going to change.

The team is about to kick off a unique summer – one packed with meaningful games at home. It begins Thursday when Canada plays its Pan Am Games opener in Toronto against Venezuela, and it will end at the FIBA Americas Championship in Edmonton next month, where the Canadians will try to qualify for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.

Canadians have got a glimpse of these women, but always from afar. They watched them three years ago as they made their first Olympic appearance in 12 years. Several of the women on this roster starred in the NCAA tournament, such as highly touted Kia Nurse, who recently helped the University of Connecticut to a national championship, or Natalie Achonwa, who led Notre Dame to four successive Final Fours before being drafted by the WNBA's Indiana Fever.

No woman on this team – even the three veterans in their 30s – has ever played a consequential game inside Canada. Their competitions are typically on the other side of the world, out of sight and mind for the average Canadian sports fan. This squad is about to experience more home support and media attention than they ever have, and they have medal potential to back it up with some of the best talent they've had in decades.

"We don't ever get this opportunity so we're really excited to showcase our team in front of Canadians, and we're taking it very seriously," Thomaidis said. "To see someone like Natalie, who has committed to leaving her WNBA team for a time to play for us, it just shows how much it means to her and to all of these women to play for their country."

The best result for a Canadian women's basketball team at the Pan Am Games was a silver medal when Winnipeg was host in 1999. Canada, along with the United States, Brazil and Cuba are the biggest medal threats in Toronto. Canada placed sixth in the 2011 Pan Am Games, and it ranks 10th in the most current FIBA world rankings following its fifth-place finish at the world championships last fall – its best showing there since a bronze medal in 1986.

Eight of the 12 women on Canada's roster were also on the team that finished eighth at the London Olympics. They qualified in the nick of time for those Olympics – just a month beforehand.

This time, the squad hopes to grab the bid a full year in advance. It would not only allow more time to prepare for Rio, but it would also allow more opportunities for media exposure and attention from sponsors, such as that enjoyed by Canada's women's soccer team before the recent World Cup.

"We were really impressed when we watched the support that Canada's women's soccer team got during their World Cup, and how Canadians got behind women's sport," said Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe of Toronto, who plays pro basketball in Germany. "So far as we've walked the streets in Toronto, people have been supportive, clapping for us even. Canadian women are known for their pressure on defence and playing hard to the last minute of a basketball game, so I think people could get inspired by how we play."

The Canadian women have trained together recently in Edmonton, played exhibition games in Europe and have enjoyed the rare convenience of shooting at Toronto's Air Canada Centre this week before moving over to the Pan Am venue at Ryerson University's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

"It's super unique for us to be right at home, and for once my family members won't have to rely on some Web stream to see our games – they will all be here," said Nurse, whose family hails from Hamilton, including her brother Darnell Nurse, who plays in the Edmonton Oilers' system. "We're really excited to show Canada the kind of women we have on this team."

Countries are sorted by most gold medals