Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Welcome to the Canadian Basketball show. Your go to spot for the latest news stories and analysis on Canadian basketball. I'm your host Lee Ben Osman. We got a special guest, special guest joining us this week in studio. He's the general manager and vice president on the women's side for Canada basketball, Steve Bauer. Welcome to the show.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Oh, thanks for having me. Actually the in person is really great too. Love to come see where this magic's happening.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Tell people, man, everyone's got to come in. I feel like I don't want, I don't like doing like zoom type interviews because I'm like, I want them to see the sign, everything like that.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Get the ambiance, you know, I feel this too even walking in here today. Also, also a great day. But you come in inside and we're all feeling it. So yeah, thanks for having me here.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Yeah, excited to have you on congrats obviously on the recent appointment as you.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Obviously you just. We're going to be talking about the new head coach that was just announced this past week and I kind of want to obviously talk in depth about that, but I also want to get to know you, you know, get to know your backstory, your involvement with Canada basketball, where it all started. But tell me what's the last like little month been like for you?
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Oh, good start for us. The last month's been a real positive whirlwind. Like I get the opportunity now to get in this GM role and live some of this. But it's been anytime you finish an Olympic Games, it's just really resetting of like what we're doing for the next, you know, you got to keep in the moment, but you got these four year windows that come at you which is the reality of these national teams. So what were we missing in the past and trying to get something set in place to get us moving towards the next Olympic Games here in la.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: You just announced Nell Fortner as a new head coach for the senior women's national team. Let me just read a little bit of her resume because it's long. It's long.
2000 Sydney Olympic gold medalist with USA basketball, FIBA world champion 1998. Best record, right.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Winning, Yeah. I think the winningest coach in USAV history.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: She served as the first head coach and general manager for the Indiana Fever in the wnba. Guided three NCAA programs, Purdue, Auburn and Georgia Tech and just recently retired last month in the ncaa.
I was kind of shocked at this also. I want to give you credit, kept us very hush. I didn't hear a word about this name, anything like that. But can you tell me just about her and when did she pop up on your radar and how this is a good one.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: We've been in the process for a while, and I think Nell's name had probably been kicked around internally last time we were hiring, and then ultimately we as a federation decided to go with Victor Lapena. But this time around, we probably weren't talking about her as much. But I think the moment that really sparked it for me was when she announced the retirement from Georgia Tech. Because we had this, you know, these criteria we were looking for ourselves, but the kind of, like, light bulb went off of, like, oh, maybe if you're stepping away there from that. That program and the demands that NCAA team has, maybe your schedule's gonna match what we're trying to get going as well, too. So if we looked at the things that were important to us and your availability kind of ramping up, maybe this can come together as a perfect fit.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: You talked about potentially last cycle, potentially having her in the running. When did you first get connected with her and me about that process?
[00:03:18] Speaker A: It was probably six, seven years ago for me. I think we were down as a federation at a Final Four, and this will be like trying to remember who was there, but it might have even been like, KIA at a Final Four. We were down watching. And I ran into Nell at that time, and it was in context of she was with a bunch of other former USAB coaches. They were all there, a chance to meet with us, not by the meeting design, just like, hey, Cannabas here. USAB has some other people there. We had a chance to talk, and this is the first time we spoke.
And then in the coming years, she'd recruited a couple Canadians I think ultimately missed on most, except for Jada Bediaco. And we had a chance to talk through that recruiting process. So she was around as we were doing some of those age teams and just built, like, a slower relationship there. But it really came together in more heights in these last few months.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: When you approached her about the job, I'm guessing more aggressively, say, yeah.
What was her reaction after retiring?
[00:04:15] Speaker A: You know, our first call was. Was pretty short. I called her, and obviously she didn't know it was coming, so I caught her a bit by surprise and I called her. I think she was sitting down to watch some of the NCAA tournament herself, and. And I said, hey, we want to talk about, like, congrats on your retirement, but I think you might fit for what we're trying to do right now.
And I think it caused her some surprise. So we quickly went over, like, you know, here's some of the things that are really important to us that we're trying to find right now as a program. Here's what some rough ideas of our dates look like. How about I leave it with you for a couple days? And I think she said, yeah, three or four days would be really great.
But I think it was 24 hours later she was calling me back, being like, I want to know more. Actually, I've got my interest peaked, and I want to know some more. So it was a quick start, but we got going really quickly as well, too.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: In building it, what was the conversations just, like, about maybe your vision, what you sought for the program with her, and what was she asking you?
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Just about, oh, these are great. We started on my end. It was really important for us to talk about what we had learned in the last Olympics. And I was like, we've kind of got to reset a little bit of, like, some challenges we're facing.
I think in general, basketball in Canada, men, women, is on the rise, and we got a lot of really good stuff happening. But it doesn't mean we still can't be, like, learning lessons here along the way of how these last couple Olympic Games have gone. And for us, we were surely disappointed how we finished in the Paris Olympics. We didn't get out of pool play.
But sometimes those moments are really key to give you a chance to sit down. Like, what do we need as a next step? And we had a chance to talk to the athletes, and we, you know, said to Nell, like, what I really need right now is we want to establish the culture of, like, what does it look like to be all in? Like, everyone uses that word, but, like, we're trying to embody, like, what are the values that make that. What are the expectations of the athletes and what are the expectations of our coaches that we create this environment?
And I think this is what really resonated with her because as our conversations went on, she really bought into the process of, like, I do want to be part of building something. Like, sometimes national teams can be potentially like an all star, like, model. People show up, you play, and you put in your systems and you. You attack the tournament. But she's like, I really do appreciate that you guys are trying to, like, build something here right now.
And I think this is what drew her into these conversations to explore. And then we need to talk about schedule, roster, et cetera. But the. The values in the building, I think, was really a draw.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: How long was the whole search, the searches in entirety? Because now entered a little bit later for us. As I mentioned, we. We were probably going from about December, January until now. So we were prob. Five, six months of like, bouncing around ideas, collecting input. So it was.
We felt like we were trying to exhaust all the different options to make sure we got the right person for what we needed.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: And did you interview several candidates? What was that whole process like? You don't have to tell me. We interviewed this person.
It was a lot like a large search or like, did you reach out to a lot of people?
[00:07:03] Speaker A: You know, this is a fair question. I don't mind saying some names because I think some. We can. I'll get to some of this exclusive. I love this. Yeah. I'll show you, like, who we chase. And I think they don't mind talking about how this process went. I feel comfortable with this for them too. But we truly started with our own board. Like, hey, let's get together a committee and like, just collect names right now and just throw things at the wall. Like, just pretend there's no parameters that restrict us. Like, who do we think are names that we should explore is like, our best fit and people would come. And what we needed with that is like, I need people in different perspectives. So Mark Eversley helped us a bunch from the Bulls right now just to give us some, like, hey, I'm coming from not your sphere. We got Travis Charles from Dallas gave us some things, and we used a bunch of alumni, former coaches in our program. We tried to reach out to people in usab. Don Staley was great to throw names at us, and we're just like, everyone make us a list and we can just bounce it around. And we started pretty early, getting it down to, let's say, like, five or six names that we just went into. Like, what could it look like before we would get too far down the road, even with you.
Could it fit in your schedule? Because, like, the national team, if you're a W coach, there's a lot of collide. If you're an NCAA coach, it's the only time you're not in season.
And if you're a pro coach overseas, then it probably fits your schedule perfectly. But, you know, does that match what we're trying to do? So we went through this process at the beginning of just like, now we've got these names and some general feel of, like, who can and can't do the job before we even really get Started. So that's the first part. If you don't mind me. Keep going. I'll tell you where we went.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: I'll love it.
[00:08:35] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: You know me. I'll be here all day.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: So we. From there, we kind of ventured in some of the first targets we created. And again, there's, like, many stages is we. We want to talk to Teresa Weatherspoon, see a bit of, like, how she had gone. She had, you know, tremendous player, has also had some time with some of our players in their W careers.
And I think she's also, in my opinion, done a really great job connecting with some athletes that maybe have felt less connected in other spaces. And she had some interest initially as well, too. So this was a good start for us.
She tried Neal Ivey. Like, this was the one that we're like, hey, I want to see how this fits for you. And she also was really keen at the beginning, but ultimately got to a space where she's like, you know, I feel like I'm on the USAB path, and as an. As an American, I'm not sure I'm ready to make this jump ship. So that's how that went. And then our main target early was. Was Lindsey Gottlieb at usc. And we were. We ended up talking to her for a couple months. And I think ultimately it was. The schedule piece ended up being the big conversation between the two sides. Like, what we really need from her is, like, a requirement and what she could give while coaching at usc. So this is where we. Where we sat. There were other names we had talked to, but these were probably, like, our main targets at one point.
And then not to, like, go too long on this, eventually Kurt Miller came in as a candidate, too, because, like Nell, as he switched out of head coaching into a GM role, Dallas, we thought, wow, Kurt would be a great coach. That has all the criteria we need.
Does your schedule now fit us as well? So these are. This is where we went early on in our process.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Kurt Miller, also. He's with the Wings, right?
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Correct? Yeah. With Travis.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
In terms of the board you're talking about having a bunch of people, was that mostly built of, like. Of Canadian people? People that. Have you mentioned, Mark, you mentioned Travis Charles, who's also an executive with the Wings. What was that board like? How often would you guys meet? And what was the input like, getting all these, like, different minds from all different spheres?
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Really cool. We had a first board, I would say, which was maybe more. Not necessarily all Canadians. And we purposely tried to get Some people that have been coaching national team experience, pro experience, college experience. So we were hitting all the different spheres and that first step was actually the name collecting phase. And we, and we, and we told that group that like, this is what we want from you all is just like throw people at us.
Once we got through that stage, we disassembled them and then we formed that second one. And they were all Canadians at that stage. But we did try to prioritize Canadians that were in other places. So not necessarily geographically, but I mean in different environments. So Canadians that were coaching pro, Canadians that were coaching college, Canadians that have been overseas. Like, just make sure we're still getting the breadth of like where basketball is played to give us an opinion on this board. That group met probably once or twice a week to try and talk about like, how aggressive do we want to go and what are our questions we need from these candidates to see if it is the right fit for us or do we need to even grow our list a little more.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: And when did you feel like you honed in on Nell?
[00:11:34] Speaker A: I think was truly was closer to her retirement. We got into March and at that stage we were still in really deep with a couple of the candidates that I had mentioned previously.
But I think as Nell's scenario played out, it gave us a chance to reflect as a group of like, this feels like a perfect fit for us. She's checking off the box. As we had talked of coaching experience has been pro, has international experience, has some college experience.
And even in her story, which is a detail that was important for us, is she did the national team at a time where there was like two pro leagues in the US and bringing those groups together. And we're like, hey, we face this right now. We've got people in the W, we got people in ncaa, we got people overseas. So Nel's lived through a bit of like managing these multiple environments. So we went in full speed when we, when we identified Nell's availability.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Is this a full time job for her now and how do you see her kind of elevating the program? Because obviously she's retired now. Right.
But there's always this conversation of like, should the person that's being the head coach of the national team, should it be a full time, should it be a part time gig? Obviously people are busy and like, if you want the top of the top, some of them obviously this is a unique situation. Right. Totally retired. So is this a full time gig?
[00:12:41] Speaker A: That's a great question. And we wrestled that even early in our process as well too. Because full time, as you said, is a national team, in my opinion. And there's like many models that work for people. But I think a full time coach with a national team, you need to be working with not just your senior team. If you're full time, like if you're here at a full time person, that means you should be impacting like how we build our system, how we work with our age teams, how we grow our coaches.
And with Nell, I think her moving into retirement, that wasn't where we were trying to focus. What we, what we want is to make sure you can be present when our senior team's together. So all of our windows you can make this is what we want from you.
The other elements we're going to attack as a federation, whatever ways we're going to do coach development, age team development. So full time?
Yes, only if you mean like when our senior team's together, but not, not year round. She has a chance to still do her work on espn when she's going to do some broadcasting. She gets a chance to live in Atlanta when it is in between her sections.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I want to leave Atlanta from her.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Yeah, Especially during the winter.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: I don't know if you come here, but how do you see her elevating the program?
[00:13:44] Speaker A: What I think is important is, or where I think she's the perfect fit for us right now is while she has the experiences. I truly believe it comes down to the values piece. We've been really fighting and I talked earlier about like learning our lessons from Paris, creating this like all in. What, what is that? And our athletes had a great voice in this November of like what is really important to us, what does all in look like?
And when you have that conversation with them, they talk about, you know, really key pillars. Like we need people that are showing up when they're supposed to show up. We need people that are communicating when they need to communicate. We need giving ourselves some grace of like understanding and appreciating what our external environments look like and when it should be time for the Canadian team.
And I think Nell's alignment with those values and truthfully some experience living those spaces was the fit we needed. So what I'm hoping with her, I mean, I think she's gonna be a great coach, but I, I'm hoping it's more this element that really helps our athlete pool see what the connectivity looks like to go from a really talented group to a talented group that knows what it takes to get out of pool play.
[00:14:43] Speaker B: I wanna ask you a little bit in a bit about the player led summit that happened in November. Cause I heard a lot of like whispers about it, a lot of positive stuff that came out of it. Um, but I'm guessing you also reached out to maybe players coaches that are going to be the next wave of talent coming up and playing for the national team program going forward or.
So far it's been a few days. What's been the response from naming Nell as a head coach from players coaches?
[00:15:11] Speaker A: And so far what's come to me has been really positive. Been really positive. I know our athlete pool, we had, you know, kept our athletes abreast of like what was going on throughout the process. I mean at some stage we had told them like, you know, here's the line where you got to trust the committee. But we've collected your input of what we're doing and you guys know what we're trying to target.
But when we came out the other side, our leadership group was really ecstatic of this. And then I think our athlete pool was a really positive announcement. And I think truthfully, when we had met with the athletes starting this process, we had talked about all these criteria we wanted of like their experiences, the values they've lived, like all these things that we want.
And we knew or we thought that time we're going to sacrifice on some of these things, but we're going to have to weigh them all out of what we get. And right now we feel like we hit on all of them. So you're like, Nell's actually coach in all the spaces that we want. She's lived through this internationally. So I think our players are really ecstatic that we've got someone that hit the criteria that we talked about as a group.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Touching on that in the press release I mentioned Nel's approach to the game aligns with the players program's goals. How does it in your opinion?
[00:16:15] Speaker A: One of the most important things for us in this is we've got two things running simultaneous. Like any program, I guess is we want to perform right now. We have enough people at the top level. Like Kayla's in her prime, key is in her prime, Bridget's in her prime. Like we want to go perform in this quad and we have this really great off air we were talking about. We've got a young group that's really coming up right now.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: We're going to talk about that.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think now's job is you got to do both of these things. You got to get the group to perform right now. We're not dropping the bar of what's going. We need to be at the Olympics. We need to get out of pool play. We need to be in the quarterfinals.
And you got to teach this group to be ready to win and when they're in their primes, that they're also getting on the podium. So we've got steps right now and establishing this foundation that we're going to have even more steps in the Future.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Obviously, the 2024 Olympics didn't go as, as you hoped. What was your biggest maybe takeaway from last summer and what the program needed.
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Moving forward, the biggest gift it gave us because, I mean, you live that and it's a lot of emotion comes out and in tough ways. And it's a. It's really disappointing for, you know, many people and even, like, for our athletes, for our staff even. Look at, like, a Natalie Chanwa, who had given so much of the program and like, no one wants to end it like that, but the reality is that is how we perform. So we've got to get ourselves into, like, what's next and what the gift they gave us was, what was missing, like, what truly did go wrong. And when we left there, we took some time ourselves. As a federation, we're like, let's let the emotion diffuse a little bit and then let's get back to the core things of, like, what was. What left us short.
And I think there was some, you know, we keep using this term like all in, but there was a feeling from us that, I don't know that we'd done everything that we could. I'm not putting that any one individual, but as a team, I don't know that we had truly come together in the way that we're. We have the potential to do.
And, you know, if I tie all these things we've said together, what we're trying to build for now as a proper foundation, the potential we have coming in front of us over the next, like, decade of talent coming up in Canada. Basso, we got to make sure we get this right. People are learning how to function as pros, how to function as winners, and they've been doing at the youth level. So let's make sure we're paving the correct road going forward.
[00:18:28] Speaker B: Was there something maybe the players felt like, needed to change?
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And this led us to the November meeting piece. If you don't want to jump that. So we got the athletes together and we kind of sat around and said, everyone we think, think anyone we think could be in contention toward la. You know, you're trying to guess four years out, you're like, we're guessing a lot right now. So, like, go wide, and let's invite these athletes here who could be an Olympian. And we extended an invite to about 30 athletes. Like, let's come in November. And they were feeling the same way we are because, like, what we want to talk about is just this, like, what was missing. And let's put some details to it and let's help this shape what we're trying to do, both in our coach hire, but also us as a program going forward.
And when we got the athletes in the room and to their credit, people showed up. We had athletes coming back. They played in the Paris games for ncaa, and they flew direct from Paris to stop in with us back to their schools.
We had people leaving, missing games, showing that kind of thing. So I think our invitation list was actually 28, and I think 24 were present. And we were like, what representation this was of the commitment, the passion people have for what the next steps are.
Anyway, in those two days, we try to dig into. Let's talk about it. Let's be honest what felt wrong and what do we really need? And their voices came out, I thought, really clear on a couple pieces. And like I said at the beginning, there's like, there's commitment. And people define commitment in all kinds of ways. But for them, they're like, let's be real, honest and transparent of, like, all of our different polls. Like, we are professionals or college athletes and maybe a couple of them high school athletes. We've got places to play that are important in our pathway and important in our development.
So how do we bring that together, being the national team? So they thought, well, these are windows where we should show up. This is what's expected of each other. If you're a college athlete, these days are expected. If you're a w athlete these days are expected. If you're a pro athlete these days are expected. And they went through it together.
They went through what they expect of each other in the environment. Like they said, you know, we all talk about being connected, but they talked about that, like, hey, we all don't be, like, best friends all the time, but there is a human element that we got to be able to talk to each other.
We should once in a while check base when we're in other places. But when we're present, we truly should be competing for these spots in the best of ways. There shouldn't be people on the End of the bench frustrated that someone else is playing over them. There shouldn't be somebody in the crowd mad that they didn't make a team. There's always emotion for all of us. But if we really want to get to where we're going, we all have to buy into the same message of like, let's be committed to getting this program to the next step.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: We're going to talk about your experience in a bit, but I'm asking you just about this player led summit. This is this normal? You've been with cannabis before over a decade. Is this something normal where 30 athletes come out say and they all talk about this is what's right, this is what's wrong, this is what we need to work on internally themselves and maybe the program itself too.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: This will be the first time we've done this. I mean we've, you know, I don't want to undersell. We've always tried to hear the athlete voices but I think truthfully in the past we've had more like one on one conversations. Maybe some small group things and we look for like some trends and then try and bounce it back and forth. But this is the first time we like called a summit, like let's get together and do this and it was needed. I think like, I think the response reflected that like I don't think we could do this every time in November and everyone get out of their spaces. But I think, you know, there was truly a commitment of like, yeah, we've got to fix some things from Paris so let's get together and talk about it. And you know, some things are probably not my place to share and some things they did in the athletes only room as well too. But they were very vulnerable amongst themselves which I have to give a lot of credit. Like people took some ownership of like I wasn't the best teammate there at times or I've been self centered in moments and it showed up like this.
And I think those conversations led to real powerful moments for us of like, okay, how do we do this better as a group? So it's about the team getting to the next step.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: How long was it?
[00:22:14] Speaker A: We really had to cram it in appreciating that people were coming, like I said, from games to games.
So we did like two days. We had people there. There were some people were there like 24 hours. They spent as time traveling as they were physically on site and some other people had different schedules. So as a group we were there like four days.
But you know, the meat of what we were talking about. We all hammered in right at the beginning when we had everybody present. And then the other days, we touched on some other stuff, like support that's available from the Federation, what their next steps look like. But the team stuff we did in the. In the time we had everybody on.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: Site together, was there anybody that. You're like, this person was the most vocal that you. You enjoyed hearing their perspective. You don't have to get into what they said.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: But I think what was really important is our Olympians spoke up in a really positive way of like, hey, it didn't go the way we wanted. And I think each of them spoke to some ways they thought that they. Whatever their piece was of their performance, it didn't go how we wanted. They would share that, like, this is my frustration of, like, my role in that. This is my frustration of us as a group, and I want to be better in that. And I give them a lot of credit for that. That are people that lived it.
It's a vulnerable space because there was new faces in there. Right. Like, we.
Not all 30 of those people were around the last quad with our senior teams. There's brand new faces, and you still have to be vulnerable and say, like, you know what?
I wasn't great in this space for a moment, and I want to be better.
So I give them a lot of credit for speaking up.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: Bridget Carlton talked about players setting their own standards for commitment. We kind of touched on the commitment was that, like, certain players have to be here. This is what every college players be here for this certain period. Pros, WNBA players. Is that kind of what she was living?
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think to their credit, too, there was really good conversation to acknowledge. Like, for example, we play in March. Like, we have a qualifier in March to go to the World Cup. We'll have a qualifier in March to go to the Olympics.
And our athletes, like, well, the NCAA athletes can't come to that. We're not. And we're not. When you miss because you're playing in Final Four, we're not saying you're uncommitted. Like, we're recognizing that's where you need to be at that time. And I think there was a few moments like that that were really important because they could establish this is what commitment looks like and respecting where you need to be, because we're going to have conflicts in everyone's schedule. So I think they did a really good job of people voicing what their concerns might be, what potential conflicts look like, and then what commitment looks like.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: To our program, what was maybe the biggest ask from the players on the team, maybe for leadership itself, to you.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: We asked of them, or they asked.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Themselves, or just to you guys, like what they needed or maybe, or. Yeah, all the above.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: I think the. The biggest ask they had coming back from us, which I think is fair, is like, listen, we're going to go all in on communication as well, too. We want to communicate to each other. We want to make sure that we're answering you guys. And what we ask of the Federation really at this stage now is more communication in advance. Tell us, like, when our dates are going to be. Tell us what you're expecting of us. Tell us what rosters are going to be going to places. And that's something they want us to live to help them, too. And I thought it's more than a fair ask. You know, you've got these people we talk about. They're balancing many environments. So let's do our job to make sure that we're getting them the information well in advance so they can make the proper plans and be present.
[00:25:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I was gonna ask you because I know you're busy. How often are you talking to the players, constantly keeping tabs on what they're doing, following their careers. And maybe I'm jumping a bit. Like, what's the day to day like for you now?
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Oh, these are both good. The communication with players can really vary, I think, on, on time of season. Like, for them. For us, you know, there's like any relationship, you know, different people like more communication. Different people appreciate their own, own space. And I think it's part of our job to recognize that from both sides. Like, some people go into maybe a training camp or, or early season and, and what they would like is to be focused right where they are.
And some people like having some supporter here, what's going on. But there's always, like any team and every, every club around the world, there's always the things. We're all human. So we have injuries, we have conflicts, we have good times, we're going through bad times. And I think those things do elicit more touch points from us. Just making sure we're checking in, supporting where we need, and then also keeping some clarity on what our next steps look like.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Yeah, cultural principles that you guys are looking to establish. Tell me about that. What does it look like whether it's conversationally or just like, literally.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: Yeah, and these ones, you know, culture is such a hard word to like.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: I've heard so much. Yeah, culture, culture. This Culture that. But it seems like at least it's important, right? It's a very important aspect. And it seems like you have like a lot of the players, they have.
What's the word? What's the right word? I would say like the wave of talent coming up.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: On the same page. Right. In terms of like, everyone sees the potential. Right.
And just building that culture where everyone's on the same page. I think it's important. So tell me about that.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's. It's a great question because like culture also, you can feel it, you know, like you're in the room and like we're getting along. You're like, okay, I can feel that if we're not. It's tense. You can feel that too. But defining, it's tricky. But we did spend time on this in November too. Of like, let's talk about what items or what factors are showing up. And for us, the. The culture pieces, they broke down to a couple elements which was great that they led this and you know, they said we need to compete. Like, people need to compete for their spots.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: Oh, I love that.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And there was. That's why I said there were some really vulnerable spaces of people being like, I've been around. I'm a veteran in this team. I have probably some status and I think it's only fair that I've got to earn my spot every time we're back together.
And I think that statement coming from that person in that position is really empowering to everybody else. Of like, great.
And this is one of the ask they then had for the federation on our part. Two like. And you guys have to hold us to this. It's not my. Not anyone's past work that earns a spot now.
You know, it's what's present and best for the team in that moment. And there was great conversation about that because competing for your spot also comes, you know, with that. And the conversation led to. Is like accepting what the outcome of that is as well too. Two people go head to head. Someone gets either the spot or the playing time and someone else gets less of like, now you've got to buy into like what your role looks like and being best for the team too. Everyone can do it when we give you the best role. Right. Go take all the shots. Easy. What you're really asking for commitment. And this competing thing is like. And you've got to be ready to compete for all of it. And when you don't get the best role, to also be like. And I'M ready to be the best teammate still to make our team the greatest it can be. So this was a lot of time.
Um, the other was communication. So part of that was us. As I touched on before, we need the federation to give to us, and we need to be better within themselves. The athletes of, like, communicating with each other.
Because you can have all these frustrations in a team, too. Like, people are showing up at different times.
So let's acknowledge, like, what is being asked of each other, but being respectful to those things, too. Some people show up late and they go into, like, tough roles. Show up late and they get into better roles. So, like, how do we communicate? So we're all feeling good in the same environment.
And the last one on what you, like, already touched, which I thought was important, is there is a generation right now that's coming up that is really well connected, and I think this is true. One of the challenges we face as a national team is they go through those together. Like, there's that. That golden age right now coming up. I say golden because they've just been winning at all this stuff.
But that window of time for an age, right? Like two or three years, which makes sense. Going through these age teams. And when they hit the senior team or an Olympic team, you're like, well, now our age span is, like, 10 years.
And this is not undoable, but we have to, again, be aware that you're coming up with, like, your group of people. But it's almost like five sections of groups of people are, like, coming together. So again, it's now recognizing that your roles and dynamics change. You go from US 5 to S7, the dynamics change.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: Tell me about you. Named 25 athletes that have committed to the program through the 2026 FIBA World Cup. What was the process like in getting these commitments? Are you on the phone? Are you, like, tell me about when you're reaching out to these players and the 25 players.
What.
What made them the 25?
[00:30:30] Speaker A: So we started with that, like. Like I said, 30 people that got invited initially. And in that. Those two days, we didn't finish it in those two days because people had to go so quickly. But we did start. What does it look like for a commitment statement? I think at the beginning, we used the word contract, but that almost sounds like, confusing. Like, it's like buying. Like, there's a punishment. That's not the case necessarily, but it's like a statement of, like, what you're committing to be part of it. And they put these values on their commitment Statements. And the athletes eventually signed off on it. So what we did is, like, take all the feedback, create the documents, and share it back and forth with the athletes. It probably took us about two months to get this all down on paper, but it touched on the values they talked about. It touched on the dates that we talked about and what's expected by the different categories where you're playing. And then we turned around and gave it to the athletes. And then there was a couple elements, asked them, you gotta sign this and commit to it. So you know what is required? You got to meet these things to be eligible for the 20, 26 World cup roster. And then when you're done, that part of these criteria is like, we also need to talk to your club or school team. So we're all on the same page of what things look like.
So from there, you know, we had that original group of both 30 and 25 of them were like, I'm ready to make this commitment and I want to do this. And they've signed. And then really that was all. So the chasing down for me was more connecting with all their clubs or schools after, to make sure, hey, I just want to make sure we're all on the same page. This is what we're asking of the athlete. They said they've talked to you. Are we all good? Everyone says yes.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: I was gonna ask you, how tough is that dealing with NCAA programs, pros, is there.
You don't have to get into, like, what program is the hardest to deal with? But, like, I want to ask you, like, is it usually tough? Like, do people. I want to know what? Because on the outside looking in, we just like, okay, these players showed up. Why did anybody else show up? We don't know the behind the scenes. Right. I'm guessing you, you know.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: Oh, this is a great question. Yeah, it's a great question.
I can go, like, from the other route. The easiest is anyone playing overseas because they're on a feeba schedule. So that makes our schedule the easiest.
Once you get to the W, it's really challenging because our schedules almost lay on top of each other for our summer months. And then there's other parts that are easier. And working with those clubs is usually fine with the W. The challenge in the W1 is, you know, our athletes asking to leave in the middle of the season can be challenged for them, too. So you don't want to put your athletes in a situation where we're hurting their careers.
The NCAA ones are actually usually pretty easy. Honestly, they've got A lot of respect for their athletes to get down there and represent their country.
The challenge lies in where our schedule lands. Like obviously March is untouchable. We're asking for an athlete to march and it's previously had been in February. That's really tough for a lot of schools to say yes in those moments. But our ask in like November which we've asked of our athletes this time for four or five days most of them are like we can do that. What they ask in return is you know if we have a really important game because you know that time of year sometimes they play like warm up games but they also sometimes throw in like a you know two top five teams are playing each other. I said if we're doing that we would like to shift that our person is present for this and I think it's only fair that we make the same accommodation back of like of course you know this is an important time for the athlete to be present. In that context.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: I was gonna say shout out to Sociatosaurus because I remember saying she committed to Michigan just so because they honored her saying she wanted to represent Canada basketball and like she can go whenever she wants kind of thing.
[00:33:51] Speaker A: There is truth in my experiences that you know our athletes verbalizing this and their recruiting process makes a big difference.
I think it makes sure that no one's caught off guard. Right. Like you don't show up on campus and say oh by the way I got these other commitments or I'm going to leave because the the age teams do fit the NCAA schedule. They're just in the summer months. That's easy. The senior team has some conflicts so the athletes usually do have to get that worked out. So talking before you arrive makes our life a lot easier for sure. And the schools vary as you said. Some are easier and some are more work to get there but most of them do ultimately want to side with the athlete's true wants are yeah be like Sal everyone. Yeah yeah.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: You talked about certain dates that athletes can cannot reach. What are the non negotiables that like they've agreed upon that okay college players you should be here for that Pros obviously they have more leeway. WNBA kind of tough but what's what's kind of that look like we did.
[00:34:51] Speaker A: You know the two years a little different this time. Meaning we're right now going into this summer in 2025 and we have a chunk of our pool that's still U19 eligible. So like the Silos Swords age group. Avery Howell, Jasmine. This, this group Of God, they're. They're U19 eligible. And we thought, you know, first year of a quad, it probably makes the most sense to go play for a World championship, like, continue trying to win, have success at your age, keep that group together.
So that gives them a chance to go there, but it makes their schedule a little unique. And then we also touched on what's important to us in this first year is when we do get to March, we're not going to have any zinc athletes. So let's prioritize our pros or those that are eligible to be playing in March sometime together this summer to ensure they do their job and qualify us through March to the World Cup. So everyone almost has, like, an individual schedule this first summer of, like, you've got a spot where you need to be with the national team, and then we all reconvene in November is the first time that we get, like, the whole 25 back together in one place.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: That's exciting. I'm very excited, especially for the U19. That's A. We'll talk about that team in a bit.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Okay, great. Yeah, I'm excited, too.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: Talk. Tell me about you. Kind of touched on it.
Everyone earning their spots. Right. How are you balancing, like, emerging talent coming up and then also just like, giving grace and also respect to people that have played for Canada for years to come, suit up whenever you. You call them, whatever the ask was. How are you balancing that. That. That dynamic?
[00:36:21] Speaker A: That's a really good question, because I think that's like, an important thing that sometimes gets, you know, all of us, we get excited about things that are coming, but you do have to balance those that have, like, put in the work and sweat for the country as well, too. And there's also those that show up at times where others cannot and important to, like, honor their contribution to the program to get to, you know, back to LA and to get ourselves heading toward the podium. So there's always a balance in these things. And I don't know there's one easy answer for, but I. I do know both things are important to us when we go through these. Any selection that we're doing for final rosters is, as I mentioned in the beginning, we believe we have enough talent right now to still have a great quad. It's important that we get ourselves through these next four years with the mindset that's like, let's chase down the podium here in la.
But we also want to recognize that we also want to ensure there's a really good young group that Also needs to be prepared for what's ahead of them in 2032. And I think that group right now, now, now we're playing this game, we're eight years out, projecting.
[00:37:23] Speaker B: So that's crazy.
[00:37:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Well, you have to, right?
[00:37:26] Speaker A: You have to. And you're like, they also need to be getting the proper experiences because you can't also have them go through these four years and say, well, wait your turn. Wait your turn. And then turn around and say, now, now, deliver. Because the only way you can get to that is that you're also properly prepared. And getting experience is part of that. And learning how to do it the right way is part of that.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: I wanted to ask you a question. For the players that are currently included in the pool, of the 25 athletes that have committed to the World cup, could there be an exception made? We've seen on the men's side, obviously, for the Olympics, but say someone wanted to join, say they're killing it. Right? Yeah.
Will you make an exception?
[00:38:03] Speaker A: Why?
[00:38:04] Speaker B: Why? Or not? Or, like, what will that be? And like, obviously, say, you. You desperately have a hole at this position. Right. I'm guessing you answer the question. I'm not trying to make.
[00:38:14] Speaker A: No, you're good.
I think, you know, you know, life. I probably taught you, like, you never say never, but truthfully speaking, we don't want that. We don't want that here for the World Cup. And part of what I can say to strengthen that is we purposely did it in two year chunks to make sure that we're not missing something. We haven't made a mistake on these lines where we don't end up at the World cup. And we say, whoa, that we've gone down a path that we can't fully live. Like, let's do it here for two years. This group of athletes committed. This is who we're committed to as well. So let's go do this. But it does leave the door open that if that wasn't working or we were missing people or we didn't accommodate for something or we were asking too much or whatever that might be, that's a lesson learned. We've also left ourselves a little bit of room to the Olympics to clean that up, and the athletes are on board with that, too. We want to get it right. What we're trying to capture is we're all on the same page and we're all in.
But we also want to get stuck to a rule. So let's live our values right now for these first two years. And it's going to come from our 25, but if we need to adjust after that, let's adjust so we have the right thing going toward the Olympics as well.
[00:39:22] Speaker B: I like that. I like that. I like that a lot.
I want to switch now over to your experience and kind of get to know you a little bit.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: Steve Bauer, you joined Canada Basketball in 2014 as a performance analyst.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: An assistant coach, right?
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Yeah, this is right.
[00:39:38] Speaker B: How did that happen? Tell me about that whole journey to get into Canada Basketball.
[00:39:41] Speaker A: Well, you know, I was at the time, I was out east at a, at Acadia University, so this is my alma mater. And I was, I was on the men's side that time as well, too. And they had posted this position, the position that I ended up accepting, which was a performance analyst by, by nature. I think it had assistant coach in title. But they were, you know, pretty transparent in the interview process that mostly what we want is someone to do the work behind the scenes that, you know, impact, hopefully our coach decision making. But maybe at that stage in that time, more was helping, like funding partners, the board reporting where we're getting our money to show that we're hitting the metrics that are important for us and show our potential. That's like where the program was at that time.
And I was really excited for this opportunity.
Not as much the job. The job was great too. But I was like, man, the chance to be with our Olympic team and national team is really cool.
And I felt a lot of people in my circle that time were like, man, don't do it. Don't leave a head coaching position to go to this. Like, you'll, you'll regret it. And, you know, I appreciate what they were saying. Like, I understand what that was. But for me, I, I just really want to be with our best. I was like, I get a chance to work with our country's best athletes. I get a chance to go try and chase down these Olympic dreams with this group. I'm like, I, I, I really want to do it. So I jumped in 2014.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: 2014. And you talked about coaching esports.
How long were you coaching esports for?
[00:41:05] Speaker A: I was in new sport. I think about 12 years if I'm doing my own.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: I, I got my start kind of covering esports. I actually covered Carly Clark, TMU back in the days. So shout out to Carly. Yeah, so I have, like, that's where my, my bread and butter was there. So I, I have a fun. I'll go to catch you sports games whenever, whenever. I'll go To Ryerson tmu now U of T. Like, just to catch games. Just tell me about that experience coaching esports. I feel like it's a very underrated.
Deserves more love in Canada.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: I mean, it was incredible for me. I couldn't be where I sat today without these opportunities and the experiences I had there. And my first one was actually so. I grew up in Nova Scotia, but my first youth sport job was in Brandon. So I went out to Manitoba and Les Barrier got the head coaching job there and I went with him and was really excited for this. I got into the scene and we did the women's team for the first year there and they had lost, I think 100 in a row when we took over.
Yeah.
So when we went 10 and 20, I think, which was not awesome, but parade was happening. Yeah, people were excited. I think we were in the playoff hunt right to the last weekend and we had one weekend where we had knocked off a top five team. So, like, they're like, oh, great, you guys, look. It's like. But what that created for us was the next year we get the chance to do the. Jerry Hemings had just left the men's program and Brandon men had won. Like, they've been the nationals, like 20 years in a row. So we get a chance to do the Brandon men team. And so it was like, really cool experiences for me that you got in this one program that was trying to get going. The next year we had a chance to go to the men's program, which had been firing on all cylinders. And then, you know, we went women, men, and then Les got the job at Acadia and we came home to, like, my alma mater and like rebuilt that program too. And then last stepped away and I had a chance to take that over. So it was really cool to go through the different context in U sport too. Like get to see Canada west go through a program that was growing a bunch of winning and then back to Acadia, where it all started for me.
[00:43:06] Speaker B: What's it like to seeing a bunch of coaches on the national team now and getting them acclimated within that system? Like, obviously Carly's been a staple.
What's that like in terms of obviously, you know, the extra experience? Well, right. And I'm guessing, do you seek that out like you sports and just.
I feel like there's a untapped, like, knowledge too, for sure.
[00:43:28] Speaker A: And I think the, you know, the reality, like the U sport right now is they.
A lot's asked of those coaches. They do a lot. And they have Great assistants that are often starting in. But the reality of a lot of those positions is you, they, a lot of staffs have like one full time assistant and it's a lot of people that do it out of like love and passion. So you're getting great things from them. But in turn it puts a lot back on the plates of our head coaches too. And I think that really enhances their development. Like you, you're. You're still coaching, you're running practice, you're running all the things that go with running a program and you're doing a lot of these hats, you know, in a very small staff. So I think that like anything, you get more touches, you get more opportunities. It really enhances the growth of our coaches. So I think youth sports a great growing ground for our coaching pool.
[00:44:12] Speaker B: I want to talk about you being on staff for the last three Olympics. Rio, Tokyo, Paris, what was that whole like and maybe over a decade with the program favorite experience.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: Well, those are both really cool.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: Tell me your first Olympic experience. What was that like?
[00:44:27] Speaker A: So this was the, you know, my Olympics, they've been so unique. What I can say someone had told me this once is like every Olympics there's something happen. Yeah. And they're all yes to this and they're all truly unique. And the first one was like the Zika virus was at the time in Rio.
And at that time my vivi. My wife was pregnant with our first. So she was like, oh man, I'm not going anywhere near Zika virus. So it was like a really cool time in my life. Like we were having, going to my first Olympic games, we were going to have our first kid, which was happening right when we got home.
So I just felt like there were so many things that you had like dreamed about like on your life pathway that were coming together at this time. And you know, for me, going for the first time, I remember in Rio all kinds of great things for us basketball. But I also remember like in front of our residence or condo where we were staying is like there was like a tennis warm up court. It's like Eugenie Bechard and Serena Williams were like warming up just one day just as like casual. It's just like we would probably just like shoot on the side hoop and then Usain Bolt was like doing some stretches and I'm like, this is really cool, you know, just like a really cool experience of what the Olympics encaptures.
[00:45:36] Speaker B: Was there a moment where you realized you wanted to work in the leadership capacity or like, or when did that opportunity come about where you took it.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: Oh, that's a really good one, too. I think, you know, if I look back through my coaching career, I think I've always had an interest in getting here eventually like, into, like, the leadership side of it.
And I never knew when, like, people would always ask when I'm like, I don't know. I don't want to give up coaching either. Like, I also love that. And I'm like, you know, when this opportunity presents itself, I'm like, I can't pass it because I don't think these things come along very often. So Denise surprised me. Like, we were. We were really close. I thought we'd worked together for the 10 years. I didn't know that she was going to make this decision. So when she did, I think it surprised a lot of us internally and, you know, gave me the opportunity to, like, sit in that spot for a little bit while we figured out what we were going to do. And when Cannon basketball offered me the opportunity, I was like, I can't pass this, so I'll miss coaching. But I couldn't pass up this opportunity.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: What were the first few months, like, taking over as GM and stuff that you were looking to hone in on?
[00:46:42] Speaker A: And they've been busy on some things that I think, like, anyone, you want to make like your own mark in time. Not necessarily that things need to be different, but you're just like, this is where, you know, I'll naturally function at my best. Like, I want to try and make some of these changes. But truthfully, our first step was we had a bunch of hiring to do. We, you know, just have a turnover after an Olympic Games. And, you know, we head coach was gone, Denise was gone. We had some more internal changeover positions. We have a 3x3 coach, Kim Gauche left. So we're like, he's got a lot of spots to hire right now. And it allowed us two things at once as a group, I think, to set, like, what are some really important things for us in this hiring process? Because the people you hire really help set what you're trying to do with some vision. And then the next part is like, and what are you hiring them to live? So we had the opportunity in November to at least establish what the senior team was looking like. Like, here's our values. Let's make sure we hire the right person to live it with now. But let's make sure we're embodying those same things with our age programs and our next gen lead and anything else. That we're getting in place with the federation.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: You obviously held several roles within the organization, administrative roles, performance analysis, which talked about director and associate, head coach assistant.
How have those experience kind of helped you and shaped your leadership approach?
[00:48:04] Speaker A: It's been really great. I think I've, you know, I won't say everything, but I've been able to like at least touch many aspects of our program and a lot of the stakeholders that come with us. So you, you know, as a national body, we represent all of us as Canadians. Like we're the basketball element of it. So I think these different roles have allowed me to just like connect with many different people in different capacities from our athletes, the people around them. Performance analysis goes to different things. Our coaching gives us a different chance to people with which to connect. So I think it's like shaped my understanding of what's going on. The landscape has been a really important part for our leadership or my leadership story. But I think equally important has been knowing what we've gone through to get to this stage. And you know, two of those are like the struggles the team has had, like in a short term bubble. We've been really successful, which is great. I think we're one of five countries in the last decade that's been at everything.
Just before that we weren't qualifying for anything. So I, I have an appreciation of enough the people that went through those first grinds to get us to here and now what we're trying to live through to set that next stage of like meddling all the time as well.
[00:49:09] Speaker B: Meddling. I love to hear that.
[00:49:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:12] Speaker B: Well, I have a few more questions for you before I let you go.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: Yeah, great. Love it.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: We've been going for 50 minutes and I feel like, I feel like we gained a lot of information which I'm so excited about, for people to hear just about the changes and just like the excitement to just going forward with the program under your leadership too. I feel like you bring a completely unique perspective. But what would you say is like the toughest part?
[00:49:36] Speaker A: The toughest part is I think there's, you know, so many, so many people now on the rise. We've got, our athlete pool is growing and people that are playing really great in many contexts. I mean we, we had two people playing in the semifinals, Euro league against each other and Bridget and Kayla this year, which was like a really cool space. But you also just had an incredible run for like our NCAA freshman class as well. So you've got the whole spectrum like playing great and then below Them.
And this is. This doesn't sound like the challenge. This is all good news. And with that, we've got coaches that are popping up all over the place that are growing, I think, and the expectations are rising. And the challenge that comes with that is, as you continue to rise like this, it means there's more people that are capable that are being left out. And I think this is the part of, you know, the real challenging part for us is to make sure everyone sees and feels valued for what their contribution is to it, because we'll still end up with 12 people that are Olympians. We'll stand up with, like, three or four coaches, but there's so many people in our landscape right now that are truly pushing this to the next level, and I truly mean that at all levels that are truly moving this forward and ensuring that they're feeling valued and part of it, because we need everybody to get Canada onto the podium.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: For yourself, what type of impact are you hoping to leave on the program? I know you're not dying, right? But tell me you're just getting started, but what type of impact are you hoping to leave on the program?
[00:50:59] Speaker A: I'm hoping we can foster this. I think the athletes know and I think their voice has been really clear of, like, we know what we need to do. And I think my job is to help foster and help push that in the direction they need. I want to support what they're seeing.
We've got, I'll say, kids to represent, like, our young group that is getting it done at world, international levels. We've got veterans that have, like, grinded to get us to this stage where we're, like, knocking on the door. And I think they're very aware, both of them, of what they need. And my job is to make sure that they're getting the support to live what their vision is. And I'm lucky this way because I think the athletes truly have great sense of what's going on. And my job is to make sure we just stay in the same direction.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: We obviously talked about, obviously, making the Olympics, all that kind of stuff. What's the goal? Maybe your vision? Anything that you want to say, obviously, if you could like, putting it out there.
I feel like Bartlett's talked about it, too, just about. We're not afraid to put it out there, right? We. We want that to be the mandate. We want that people to know this is what we're achieving for, because that should be what the goal is. But for you, like, any personal goals or just goals for the Program itself. We don't talk about meddling gold, this and that.
[00:52:14] Speaker A: Oh, but it's what drives us though. I think it's like fair. You know, we're going into LA and you know, I think as a federation, we're chasing down. We want to get like four medals. We got two, 3x3 teams that were going there, you know, and there's some work to be doing to be done in the 3x3 programs, but we think there's. We want to get four medals. This is what we want. I think the men are ready. We think we're ready. We think these 3x3 programs are on the, on the door too. Our women's team was just fourth. Like this is our goal. We're in la. I think it's really exciting and I think as a federation, that's where we have to aim. I think the longer term goal of that is like, we're going to do this in, you know, la, and that's like really exciting for us. And that'll be, you know, our first.
And I think the longer term thing is like, we want to make this more consistent. I mean, I don't know if any team outside of us medals every single time, but we want to be a medal contender every single time. And I think that's what the program needs to elevate right now. The foundation's coming. Let's get it to that stage.
[00:53:10] Speaker B: I love that. I love that U19 team. We kind of touched on it.
How's our roster shaping up expectations with that team?
From what I've heard. Hey, man, that team is.
I'm excited.
[00:53:22] Speaker A: We're really excited. This team, I think this is like, you know, we got a lot of cool stuff going this summer. I think, you know, Nell getting with our senior group is obviously really exciting. You know, Global Jam is really exciting and we can touch on that too. But this 19 and our 16 team has got some. We got size in that 16 team that we don't typically see that young. So that's really cool too. But the 19 team I think is like our, our highlight right now. Really excited for this group. And as we touched on before, we've got five or six people in that group that we're in are 25 athletes commit towards the senior that are eligible to play U19. So I think, you know, Silo's already an Olympian. She's going to be on this U19 team. Avery and Jasmine are there. Agath's going to be there. Talia Henderson. Yeah, like, we're like, we've got spots filled in this group to go medal. And I think I'm also equally excited about the staff. I think Marlo did a great job last summer. We got, you know, real high hopes for what his pathway is going to look like with us. Natalie Chan was on that staff, Laura Dahali, who played for us as well, too, and then Izzy Orman, who's been doing a great job with us in this national. So, like, I love the staff. I love these athletes. And, you know, the pressure's on. Like, this group's got to go win. They got to get us a medal.
[00:54:29] Speaker B: I love to see it, man. Especially talking to a guy in Portland, the Hoop Summit. She's eager. She's. She. She knows she wants to beat the U.S. so she's the.
[00:54:40] Speaker A: And, you know, this is. I think our youth justifiably are coming up with this confidence, too, and they're willing to also put that out there. Like, I want a medal, too. Like, you can ask a God, and she says this like, I want a medal. I want to win. You're like, great.
And we weren't too long ago that we weren't saying that. But, you know, this is coming, and I think it's deserved. Right? You got to earn that to be, like, saying these things. But now, and it's. It's being heard, and now we got to start to deliver.
[00:55:05] Speaker B: Talking about some of the players, we just had a historic Class A freshman, I feel like, in college basketball. Sila at Michigan, Toby at Duke, Jasmine Basco at Villanova, Avery Howell at usc. Now at Washington, Delany Gibb at byu. Yeah, what's that like when you're seeing this talent coming up?
How excited are you just for the future of the program? And just what's it like watching this talent?
[00:55:32] Speaker A: Oh, it's. I mean, this is incredible. But this is what we, you know, are dreaming of. And this is the.
The gateway or the first step toward us having the same conversation about the WNBA in a few years now. Like, we've had some players that are carving out careers in the wnba, but what we're, you know, the next step is almost like this group is doing now. They bust into the ncaa, and you've got. They're winning awards all over the place. They're breaking records throughout this season, and they're really making the mark of where Canada's coming, and hopefully this is paving the way for more falling behind them. But our next barrier to knock down is we're having the same conversation, and maybe this is the group we Talked.
[00:56:06] Speaker B: About Global Jam just a little bit. Just announced August 13 to 17.
How would you describe it for someone that hasn't been to Global Jam before?
What's that environment like? And for someone that doesn't know what Global Jam is?
[00:56:21] Speaker A: Global Jam is incredible. I mean, it's one of our few chances to get our national team athletes here on home soil in front of family and friends that actually play in Canada. And I can tell you our athletes love it. But also the atmosphere we've created, the last couple times we've had it has been awesome. And I don't know if the teams are announcing. I'm just gonna look over here. Yeah. Okay.
[00:56:42] Speaker B: We got. We got Muad, my guy.
He said we can't talk about rosters.
[00:56:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
But I think, like, when we get this atmosphere going on, it's more than just the tournament. Like, the athletes come in, there's a bunch. Like, I think we're gonna have, like, a gala event going on. There's a community events going on. The last time we had some outdoors tournaments happening. And I think it just brings the basketball community together from the grassroots, Red to our best players. And, you know, last time we were here, some of the. Even the NBA and WNBA people had shown up to give, like, some support. We had senior athletes around. So I think it just, like, it embodies what we're trying to grow here in Canada. Basketball. And I think it was, like, a really cool time. And it's. It was a. It was a gap, like you finish U19 before you make senior. There was a set space. And I think we're now putting these athletes in this stage of their career right before they turn pro for the most part of, let's play here in home soil. So it's a really cool opportunity.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: How much of it is a platform for these players? Because we talked about Ali Edwards in the wnba. She played in the first one.
What type of platform does this give for players that are looking to potentially play for. I'm guessing we can't talk about rosters, obviously, but what's the platform like?
[00:57:54] Speaker A: I think it's, you know, when we first start this conversation, we had, like, two things. Obviously, internally, you know, if I went from the, you know, high performance side to the basketball side, we were like, our athletes need these international experiences to play. Like, Aaliyah, the year she won MVP was like playing France. And, you know, that team also had a couple future WNBA players on the France team. You got Aaliyah on our side. So we want to create these spaces and opportunities. And then you also. The other side being like, we also can reach so many basketball people with an event like this because, you know, in that case, Aaliyah was home and present. Because we have so many events going on, so many people can come be a part of Global Jam and it puts our athletes in front of their faces.
[00:58:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Moad's kind of signaling to me something. I don't know what you're saying.
[00:58:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I know.
[00:58:36] Speaker B: But if the players that I've heard before, I think three. Three names that should be a Global Jam. If we can tease or forget to tease.
Avery Howell just went to Washington.
Silas Swords and I got Makir. Those are the three names. That thing I'm allowed to say.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, great. I love it.
[00:58:57] Speaker B: Excited about those names. And what do you think it's going to be like? Obviously they don't get to play at home at times. Right. To kind of touch on.
[00:59:05] Speaker A: Totally. And you know, for the three of them, hopefully they're coming back to this with a medal from the U19s and then they're coming into U23, a chance to play at home.
But we were talking to Sila this year, actually went down to Michigan and Sorry, it's like a bit of a tangent story on this too. But, you know, it was the way her basketball path has gone and they're a little unique. Like, her father ended up getting a job in Brooklyn. But, you know, you know, we go down to New York. I play high school there, I go to Michigan. I'm playing college there. I play the national team. We're down in South America, then we're over in Europe. All are amazing.
But what she doesn't get the opportunity very often is to come here in Canada and wear the red and white. And I mean, she's as excited for Global Jam for that moment and that experience as much as anything else. And I don't like she wants to win. Silo's a competitor. I'm not taking that away from her. But the chance to like don the flag, to don the jersey and be at home is equally exciting to our athletes as all the rest of it goes with it.
[01:00:04] Speaker B: I kind of want to end off talking about Nell.
[01:00:06] Speaker A: Okay, great.
[01:00:07] Speaker B: What's her excitement when she's seeing this talent? We kind of just talked about it.
What's her excitement? Just to join this program and.
Yeah. What's the conversations like with her?
[01:00:18] Speaker A: Nell's been incredible. You know, I got like a really cool story. Yeah. For now. We. I went through this process. We talked many Times. And I was like, you know, she. She just retired. And I was like, you know, what might fit both of us is why don't we move forward with this? But maybe this summer you can, like, gather yourself. We'll grow some other people in these spaces and you kind of like, transition into the spot. Maybe that makes sense for all of us.
And I think as like an initial pitch, she was like, okay, maybe that makes sense.
And, you know, she called me one day and it was late. I was like, oh, hey. But she was like, steve, it's not sitting with me. You know, our athletes are all in. They're committed to this. This is what we're fighting for. These are our values. I can't sit out this summer. I got to be there. I was like, okay, great, great, great. And I think, you know, this embodies, like, her passion to do it too. Like, we. We sparked something in her. I think it was the right fit for her as well too. She, you know, was ready to be done with the demands of the ncaa, especially all that goes on the off court of it. But she's not done wanting to coach and compete. So I think the opportunity to buy and help us build this culture. She's real excited to get going.
[01:01:25] Speaker B: Excited. Very excited. We covered everything. I feel like. Anything else you wanted to add? Just about the program excitement, maybe for the summer. We talked about Global jam, talked about U19's Maricop. Anything else?
No.
[01:01:38] Speaker A: I appreciate the opportunity to hear and share some of our story. I think this has been, you know, it's been a fun first few months on these things, but I have to admit, like anybody, I'm excited for this summer to get going, our teams to get on the court in and play. We do all this work to go and win. So let's go get going this summer.
[01:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And for Global Jam. Do you know where people can get tickets?
[01:01:56] Speaker A: I think they went out today on Ticketmaster for tickets.
[01:01:59] Speaker B: Yeah. GlobalJam CA. Go check it out if you haven't gotten yet. GlobalJam CA August 13th to the 17th Global Jam set to come to the Madam Athletics Center. We'll be at the NBA Draft combine next week following Will Riley.
But yeah. Steve, thank you so much for being here. You've been listening to the Cane Basketball Show. I'm your host, Lee Ben Osman.
