Americans coaching Canadian national teams has become a thing with Nell Fortner in women’s basketball following Jesse Marsch’s march to the Round of 16 in the men’s soccer World Cup.
Fortner comes with pedigree, having coached the U.S. to the gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The goal now, at age 67, is to get Canada to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the qualifying process for which begins next month at the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament Aug. 17-23 at Guadalajara, Mexico.
“I’m extremely honoured to be the coach of the Canadian team. To be a national team coach is unique, where you have one team representing the country,” said Fortner, who coached Purdue, Auburn and Georgia Tech in the NCAA and was also an analyst for ESPN.
“These players all have a love for their country and want to represent it well.”
Fortner prepared for the Olympic qualifier with a week-long training camp at CARSA gym on the University of Victoria campus and a game Wednesday night against the NCAA-champion UCLA Bruins at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The game was in progress at press time.
“This gives us a chance to evaluate where we are moving forward and building a team chemistry and culture and holding each other accountable to our standards as all great teams do,” said Fortner.
Canada is slotted in Group B of the Olympic qualifier with the Philippines, Senegal and host Mexico. Group A features Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand and South Sudan. The winner of the tournament will advance to the next stages of Olympic qualifying next year.
“Anytime you put on the national team jersey and play in front of people and you’re playing for something, it’s important,” said Fortner.
“We want to go down there and win that tournament, period. It’s time for us to win. We have to get the most out of the time we’re together and build continuity.”
It’s an extra layer to go through to get one of those 12 coveted berths into the Los Angeles Olympics, a more winding path necessitated by No. 7 Canada’s rather surprising failure to qualify for this summer’s 2026 FIBA World Cup in Berlin, Germany, after making the semifinals and placing fourth in the 2022 World Cup in Australia.
“We would have loved to have been in Berlin but it wasn’t meant to be [after falling one game short in the World Cup qualifying tournament in March in Istanbul],” said Fortner.
“All the eight teams playing in Guadalajara are all disappointed they not playing in Berlin. But moving forward, we feel good about the process and it is a process. It’s a tough one because we very rarely have our whole team together.”
Canada will be missing its five WNBA players until the end of the pro season in September, so the attention swings to Canada’s European pros and rising NCAA stars such as Syla Swords of Sudbury, Ont., the Big Ten first-team all-star from the University of Michigan.
“These kids work hard. When they get on this court it’s all out,” said Fortner.
And with the WNBA moving into Canada this season with the expansion Toronto Tempo, their pro prospects have widened. (The Tempo will play two league games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Aug. 21 and Aug. 23).
“It’s really exciting to have a pro team in Toronto that is selling out and it’s going to elevate Canada basketball. Girls and women’s basketball will definitely hit a growth spurt because of it,” said Fortner.
“I saw exactly what happened in the U.S. when the WNBA hit. There are so many kids playing basketball now and the talent is just crazy. Eventually that’s going to happen in Canada.”