At home she’s still a tourist
Sutton-Brown’s travels bring her back to Canada Women trying to qualify for world championships
WATERLOO— Tammy SuttonBrown’s basketball resumé is as long as it is impressive.
She’s been a WNBA all-star and has just completed her fifth season with the Charlotte Sting in what’s considered the toughest women’s league in the world; she’s played in the Olympic Games and pro leagues in Russia and South Korea; she’s been a collegiate standout and showcased her talents in an NCAA Final Four. But there is one goal still to be realized and here Sutton- Brown finds herself, suiting up yet again for Canada’s senior women’s team as it prepares to try to qualify for next summer’s world basketball championships.
“ Having not played at a world championships, definitely that’s something motivating me right now,” the 27- year- old Markham native said. “ And the fact Canada hasn’t qualified in almost forever, that’s got something to do with it.
“ As someone who always sets goals for herself, I’m someone who wants to get into everything. I think the WNBA is probably the best league around and I’ve done that, done the Olympics, haven’t done the worlds.” The team heads to Santo Domingo next week for the Sept. 14- 18 tournament and will try to become the first Canadian team to qualify for the world championships since 1994. It will have to be one of the top three in the six- team, round- robin event. They will need all that SuttonBrown can give them. The 6foot- 4 centre is just one of four on the team who played in the 2000 Olympics.
“ Where we’re youngest is in the post, so to have a player with her experience and one as good as she is, is absolutely crucial to our success,” said national team coach Allison McNeil.
“ And when you bring a player in late, it can really disrupt your team but with Tammy that’s not aconcern. She is a competitor so she comes in, fits in, she doesn’t try to do things that are outside of what we need her to do.
“ She’s always been a pro.”
Sutton- Brown’s nomadic professional career has taken her to some unlikely basketball destinations. In between WNBA seasons, she’s played in Seoul and Moscow and is headed back to Russia shortly after the world qualification tournament.
It’s taken its toll — she had one day with family in Markham after returning from Charlotte and before joining the team.
“ I’m 27, I’m still young,” she said. “ I really want to set myself up financially for the future as well as continuing to play at the highest level. The experiences I’ve had, the places I’ve travelled, I can’t beat that.”
Arguably the best Canadian female basketball player in the game today, and the only Canadian in the WNBA, her travels have restricted her ability to be a role model to young Canadians.
“ A lot of time I’m never here. I’m outside of the country either playing in the league or overseas.” And that has cost her recognition.
“ Unless you’re in the basketball circle, I don’t think I’m that well known.
“There are girls who watch (the WNBA) and they might know or they might not. It’s funny because a lot of people just assume I’m American because I went to school there ( at Rutgers) and they just don’t know.
“ But I guess it’s no big deal.”