TORONTO — Krista Enugukan credits her coaches with instilling in her a love of basketball from an early age, so it should come as no surprise seeing where she is today. Inyojukan is set to coach the Canadian U-23 women’s team at GLOBL JAM this week, making her first coach for her Canadian national team.
Enugukan grew up in Guelph, Ont., where she dreamed of becoming a professional track and field athlete competing in the Olympics. She didn’t know she wanted to play basketball, let alone coach. But after playing for the Guelph CYO Basketball Club in ninth grade and being pushed by what she describes as “really passionate coaches who fueled me,” she quit track and field and began to focus on basketball. laying the foundation for the rest of her career.
Eniojukan played at St. James Catholic High School in Guelph before transferring to Laurier University, in Waterloo, Ontario, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Physical Education and was a two-time Golden Hawks MVP. After that, she went to York University in Toronto to complete her bachelor’s degree in education, where she was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2005. She is currently the head coach of the York Lions women’s basketball team.
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We caught up with Eniojukan after coaching Team Canada Under-23 to discuss her coaching journey, the growth of women’s basketball in Canada and abroad, GLOBL JAM 2023, and much more. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
sportscent: So, tell us about going from being a student-athlete at Laurier and York to starting your coaching career. How did you get into training?
Christa Inyogokan: So, right after college, I began doing Performance Center programs, a top-tier coaching program that was being run through Basketball Canada at the time. And the people there really inspired me and also threw me into things at a very young age. So, it challenged me and motivated me to want more and learn how to do more.
I was also a teacher at the time, so I experimented with coaching strategies with kids at school, which I really enjoyed. Then shortly after I started coaching reps and then coaching the regional team. I had my kids at the time, but that passion and fuel was there, so I figured it out when my kids were born and kept training.
S.N.: Who inspired you to stay in basketball during your playing and training days?
CE: I was a fan of All I Can See. I was a Raptors fan growing up. I remember at a very young age watching basketball at the University of Guelph. Then the Australian women’s national team came along and played for the University of Guelph once when I was young. So, there was a lot of access to basketball growing up — we had to see things like that all the time. So knowing that there was more than just what was ahead of us, always wanting to learn and see the best and be a part of the best, encouraged me.
S.N.: What is your favorite part of training?
CE: I think that’s the constant challenge: balancing the challenge of building relationships and connections with X and O. So, such an interesting combination, you have to collaborate and bring it all together for one perfect result. You have to build that culture. You must ensure that your details are correct in court. And there are a lot of different balls in the air that you have to put together to form a perfect team.
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S.N.: How would you describe your training style?
CE: I would say I am a very comprehensive coach, looking at the game from all sides. And so: what mental capacity do athletes need to be able to challenge? What does their strength and conditioning look like? What is the form of the food they eat?
There are many layers to why one team can show up and be great and one team can’t – why you can perform at your best versus your competitors, and your competitors can’t, even if they’re more talented than you. So, I have that desire and that persistence to try and figure it all out. But I think I look at it holistically.
S.N.: This is really interesting. I don’t think I’ve heard training described in this way before. Moving on, what trait do you think many Canadian basketball players share?
CE: I would say a lot of Canadian basketball players are pretty good at basketball. I think we in Canada are doing a really good job of teaching the game. And so when we’re able to combine their IQ with their athletic ability and toughness, I think the sky’s the limit for us.
S.N.: Where do you think the high IQ comes from?
CE: I think it has to come from the grassroots. I think we do a really good job in Canada at developing our players and teaching the game and teaching them to decide and to read, and I think from a young age, in order to compete at the highest level, they know they have to learn these things.
S.N.: Speaking of coaching at the highest levels, she has been to the FIBA Canada Championship since 2010, where she coached the Ontario Women’s U17 team to two golds and two silver medals at the FIBA Canada 17U National Championships. How have you seen the rise in women’s basketball talent in this country?
CE: Throughout coaching the Ontario team we could see we were constantly improving, competing at greater levels and winning championships and so forth. And now you can see that elite Canadian AAU programs like the Kia Nurse Elite Team have become one of the best teams in the world, consistently making it deep into the playoffs. Plus, the OSBA Prep League in Ontario, is very, very strong. I myself as a college coach at York, the talent we see is at a premium, and there’s a reason so many NCAA schools chase our athletes and want them to come and play down south, right?
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So I think we’ve been seeing spikes where we’ll be good for a year or two. But we now see consistently every year, there are some really special athletes coming out. And so I think, again, that was no accident.
S.N.: I also worked with the national program as a performance analyst for the 2022 FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup in Hungary last summer. But what does it mean for your first coach to appear for your Canadian National Team at GLOBL JAM, right here in Toronto?
CE: It’s obviously very special to be able to coach. But I come from Ajax, Ont. So to be able to do that in GTA, on home soil, and have all your family or friends go out, it just makes it that much more special. It is an extremely rare opportunity. There are many athletes on this list who haven’t been able to play at home since they were in high school. So, I know they will come out ready to compete and show their pride with their passion for their country.
S.N.: As someone with a young daughter, what do you think it would mean for young Canadian girls to be able to watch top-level women’s basketball in downtown Toronto at GLOBL JAM?
CE: It reminds me of this summer’s WNBA Canada game, where I had goosebumps. Every few steps you run into excited little girls, right? And I think the same experience, for little girls like my 12-year-old daughter, to be able to come here and see what it’s like — I’ve never been able to watch women’s basketball play that way. Like I said, there was one time when I saw the Australia team come and play, but that was a one-off. This is something that families can look forward to and track. It will go a long way for the next generation.
S.N.: Finally, what do you think of the growth of women’s basketball that we’re seeing across Canada, the NCAA and the WNBA? Did you ever imagine this when you were growing up?
CE: Honestly, I can remember as a little girl recording the NCAA Tournament game on VHS tape, because it was the only game of the year that had a female appearance on TV (in Canada). And now, I’m training GLOBL JAM, and all of our games will be televised. Like, this is crazy to me.
And so we’ve come a long way. And we’ve shown that numbers don’t lie: When you invest in women’s sports, people watch, and there’s a viewership there. It is definitely there. So, the sky is the limit. And I can’t wait until we get our own WNBA team in Toronto so we can take this to the next level.
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