Motherhood, coaching go hand in hand for UVic’s Sinclair
Life can be more complicated for female coaches.
Canadian co-head coaches Dani Sinclair from the University of Victoria Vikes and Jodi Gram from the Ryerson Rams guided Canada to the silver medal at the 2017 girls’ FIBA Americas U-16 basketball championship this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sinclair travelled to the tournament with 15-month-old son Ben, and Gram with two-month-old son Wyatt as Basketball Canada provided for child-minding support.
“Other countries’ coaches there thought we were crazy for doing it, but we pushed boundaries in order to be there to coach the Canadian team,” said Sinclair.
The UVic bench mentor admitted that would be unheard of throughout much of the world.
“It’s challenging sometimes. But [Canada] is pretty progressive in terms of opportunities for women, including those who are moms, to coach,” said Sinclair.
The chance to guide and shape Canada’s potential Olympians of 2024 and beyond was too important an international assignment to pass up.
“The silver medal showed there is a strong future for women’s basketball in Canada,” said Sinclair.
The top four teams from the FIBA Americas — the gold-medallist U.S., silver-medallist Canada, bronze-medallist Argentina and fourth-place Colombia — advance to the 2018 FIBA U-17 world championship next year in Belarus.
Sinclair will again put her name in to coach the national side next year, believing that continuity will be an important factor in deciding the Canadian coaches for the worlds.
“I would like to stay involved,” she said.
This is the third consecutive summer Sinclair has been involved with coaching Canadian national female youth teams. At the senior team level, she was assistant coach for Canada at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“You learn about the different styles of basketball. South America is very physical and different than Europe. And Asia is also different,” said Sinclair, about her international experiences.
The highlight for Canada was knocking off host Argentina 71-65 in the quarter-finals before blowing out Colombia 64-38 in the semifinals and in turn being blown away 91-46 by the U.S. in the gold-medal final.
“The U.S. was not going to concede anything and went strong until the end. They wanted to show dominance,” said Sinclair.
The earlier victory over the hosts stood out for Canada in the tournament.
“I was proud of how our players responded and dealt with the loud gym and home-team support and enthusiasm in the game against Argentina,” added Sinclair.
“As coaches, you forget sometimes that U-16s are so young, but our players responded in that atmosphere.”
Sinclair now has the rest of the summer to prepare for varsity basketball and the UVic Vikes’ Canada West opener Oct. 27-28 against UBC-Okanagan.
Meanwhile, UVic Vikes men’s coach Craig Beaucamp is head coach of the Canadian boys’ U-16 team, which began play in the FIBA Americas on Wednesday with a 75-61 win against host Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Canada is ranked No. 3 in the world behind the U.S. and Lithuania.
“It’s an exciting time to be in Canadian basketball because there is a ton of talent,” said Beaucamp, during the selection camp.
“Every age group in this country has a ton of potential.”
Beaucamp was an assistant coach with the U-18 national team in 2006, 2007 and 2016 and with the Canadian team at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara. He was also a guest coach with the men’s senior national team from 2013 to 2016.