Canada Leaving Mark In Basketball

Canada's chances at actually making some international noise in a sport other than hockey and curling is in basketball. For those who noticed during the March Madness tournament, there was a record number of influential Canadian ball players on American teams.

It's really a staggering accomplishment given the odds of making it on a top flight U.S. college team with all the depth that exists there.

But find a place among the best they are doing.

Which is a marvel given that Basketball Canada was roughly on par with the Canadian Soccer Association in terms of ineptness, incompetence and appreciation for mediocrity.

Now the CSA stands alone with that dubious distinction. Shit, even Tennis Canada is beginning to produce some stellar talent worth paying attention to.

Don't take it from me. We Canadians tend to over rate ourselves. Take it from an American perspective in USA Today.

"...Olynyk is not alone in preferring Steve Nash, one of eight Canadians on NBA rosters this past season, over Wayne Gretzky. He's part of a growing nucleus of Canadian talent, a tight-knit group of young basketball stars poised to impact college basketball, the NBA and the Olympics..."

"...Recent research by BBM Analytics, which does frequent surveys of Canadian citizens, put basketball's annual growth rate of participation in Canada at 16% since 2010, more than hockey and soccer. A 2010 study by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group found basketball to be the most popular team participation sport for Canadians aged 12-17..."

Hockey is too expensive to play now and fast becoming a sport for the wealthy. I used to buy a Sher-Wood hockey stick for $19. Today, a high-tech stick will run you $200.  As for soccer, we fans of that game missed our chance. I just don't see enough of a development system in place.

"Opportunities for young athletes were -- and still are -- limited in Canada when compared to the USA, although efforts by Canada Basketball, British Columbia native Steve Nash of the Los Angeles Lakers and AAU teams in Canada have helped increase them considerably"

Without a doubt. And it will always be that way. We just don't have the resources the Americans have but the least we can do is be efficient and set a proper system as highlighted here. Shoot, if countries like Lithuania, Serbia and Croatia can do it, why not Canada with our diverse population?

I just hope it has staying power. We saw this script before in baseball when Canadians were making MLB rosters. A lot of that was due to the fact we had the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays. Now with the Expos gone, so has a generation of potential Canadian ball players.

We're on the basketball map now. That's fine by me.