On Wednesday September 30th 2009 Canada's woman's basketball team opens up the 8 team FIBA America's championships against the Dominican Republic. The top three teams from the tournament will go on to earn spots at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Czech Republic; an important first step for an organization that has had its fair share of troubles this decade.
Since the 2000 Olympic Games - where Steve Nash almost single handidly carried Canada's Men's basketball team to the medal podium before bowing out to France in the quarterfinals, Canada's basketball program has fallen on hard times. Not only did Canada’s men’s and woman’s teams fail to qualify for both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, Canada’s men’s basketball team failed to qualify for the 2006 World Championships for the first time in over 40 years.
In the front office things aren't any better. In 2004 Basketball Canada suffered a black eye for its controversial firing of Jay Triano as the men's team coach. Two years later Fred Nykamp- the executive director jumped at the chance to leave the organization for the Canadian Soccer Assocation - an organization with its own public trials. In 2008 the organization was accussed of charging athletes to atttend training camps and later that same year Sam Dalembert - arguably Canada's best player - publically refused to play for caoch Leo Rautins and Canada ever again.
Rautins remains.
Fortunately Canada's Basketball Program, found some inspiration on the men's side when it recently nabbed a spot in the 2010 world championships. And Canada's Woman's program tries to do the same at the end of September. However, one could argue that whatever progress the sport has made in the last year has been in spite of the national governing body, rather than because of it
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