They have long been on their own, spending their own money to travel and play, with a support system that was seldom on site and often half a world away, left to fend for themselves largely. There is no coach. There are no trainers. They are against the world.
They did it because it was fun, it was new, it was an athletic challenge – and they were good at it. They have become one of the most successful basketball teams Canada has ever produced.
The Canadian women’s 3×3 team, which is set to start the World Cup in Vienna on Tuesday as heavy-medal favorites, has the support — both physical and financial — and finally has a back-up system to match its world status. They’re light years from where they were in the run-up to the last Olympics: unfunded and knowing things themselves while cutting out international competition.
“It’s great to see the strides we’ve made and the program we’ve come through in the last few years,” Michelle Plouffe, the world’s best 3×3 athlete, said in a phone interview.
Instead of just four women on their own, the Canadian team—twin sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe of Edmonton, Paige Crozon of Humboldt, Sask, and Cassie Bush of Lethbridge, AL/-has a dedicated three-time Canadian Olympiad coach gusher and itinerant physiotherapist, Tricia Hayton. for this World Cup. This puts them on a par with other countries.
“They’ve been doing this for years without any support,” Goucher said. “At least now Canada Basketball is behind them and trying to help them. They took me on board, and now they have a tour physio.
“I can’t even imagine. They’ll play like three games in one day and they don’t even have a doctor. Oh my God.”
The most amazing part is how successful Canadian women are.
Michelle Plouffe is the No. 1 ranked player in the world, and each of her teammates has been ranked in the top six by the International Basketball Association (FIBA), the sport’s governing body. The women won four tournament titles in 2022, including the FIBA America’s Cup in Miami, and took silver medals at the World Cup. They won 25 of their 28 games over the course of the season.
The success – which came on the heels of a good 2021 season – was impossible for officials and financiers to ignore and gave the leverage the women used.
“We set ourselves up for success as we won a lot, established ourselves as one of the best teams in the world even though we didn’t get into the Olympic qualifiers (2021), (so) it was hard for the federation and the world wasn’t paying attention,” said Michelle Plouffe.
“We were straight: we said we weren’t going to do the same thing again. If there wasn’t support, we weren’t playing. They came and funded our women’s series… It was a big leap but a very necessary one if they want us to keep playing.”
Plouffes, Bosch and Crozon, along with other program makers since 2020, are seen as pioneers of a version of the sport in its infancy.
“I think he says Canada is underutilized on the 3×3 side,” said Michelle Plouffe, 30. “There’s a long way to go, and a few of us just jumped at the chance, but I think it just goes to show that there are some people who are more 3×3 than crowded.
“For me, it was like, this is a lot of fun, like it was made for me, so I’m having fun with it. I think there are a lot of women, and men too, who want to play, so it’s great to see a program being built and some of the structures being built.” Building them to pave the way for the next group of athletes.”
In the 20-team World Cup, Canada will be in a home-and-away group with the Czech Republic, the United States, Mongolia and Hungary. The top two teams in each group advance directly to the knockout quarter-finals, and the other two teams play in the sudden-death round of 16.
The Canadians are firm favorites to compete for the gold medal that eluded them at the 2022 World Cup and will count on familiarity and new staff on site.
“I think we bring chemistry, movement and experience, which has worked to our advantage in the last four years,” said Plouffe. “It’s not always the most talented person on paper who comes out with a 3×3 win, which is what makes it interesting.”
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