It is perhaps Canada’s best-kept secret of athletic prowess.
The Canadian women’s basketball team hasn’t received the amount of national coverage afforded the Olympic-champion Canadian women’s soccer and hockey teams. But the Canucks female cagers have also achieved a level of success by placing fourth in the 2022 World Cup, led by Kia Nurse, Natalie Achonwa, Bridget Carleton, Nirra Fields, Sami Hill and Kayla Alexander. Canada made the quarter-finals at both the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics and was ninth at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
The Canadian women’s basketball team arrived on the Island this week and the players have been running through their paces at CARSA Gym on the University of Victoria campus to prepare for Friday night’s game against Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Japan at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Canada is preparing for the FIBA AmeriCup 2023 from July 1 to 9 in León, Mexico, out of which eight teams will move on to the FIBA 2024 Paris Olympics qualifying Tournament of the Americas from Nov. 5 to 13, with the top two teams from that advancing to the FIBA 2024 Olympic qualifying tournaments in February. Tickets for the Canada-Japan game are at selectyourtickets.com.
The Canadian men’s team sold out the Memorial Centre last August for a 2023 FIBA World Cup Americas regional qualifying game against Argentina.
The FIBA men’s qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics at the Memorial Centre in 2021 was sold-out before it had to be played in an empty building due to pandemic restrictions. The Toronto Raptors intra-squad game, held during the NBA team’s 2022 training camp in Victoria last fall, also sold out the Memorial Centre.
Although the Canadian men’s national team has had a strong recent presence on the Island, the Canadian women have not played here in more than two decades and it is hoped their presence will act as inspiration for Island youth girls players.
“We are excited to bring our senior women’s national team to Victoria and host Japan, the defending silver medallists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” said Denise Dignard, Canada Basketball GM and executive vice-president for women’s high performance.
“Not only will this game give players and staff valuable international experience, but the unique opportunity to play on home soil in front of passionate Canadian fans as we begin to prepare for Paris Olympic qualification.”
Canada will also play Japan on Saturday and Sunday at the Memorial Centre in sessions not open to the public.
Meanwhile, Canadian national teams and Raptors super fan Nav Bhatia will be sponsoring a youth basketball camp for kids 8 to 14 on Saturday at the Memorial Centre. Information and registration can be found at superfancamp.com
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
