Bev Smith is no stranger to the Canadian women’s basketball team, having been both a player and a coach in four Olympic Games.
Most recently Smith served as one of the assistant coaches at this summer’s Games in Rio.
On the court, Smith was one of Canada’s best players and a key contributing member of the senior women’s national team during her first stint with the squad from 1978-88.
She returned to the program from 1992-96 to captain the team through veteran leadership and a strong sense of determination before retiring from the sport following the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
She was at the helm of Team Canada from 1997 to 2001, and in 2000 led Team Canada at the Olympic Games in Sydney.
Smith’s history with the sport affords her an in-depth understanding of the game and was a key role in her selection as an assistant coach in Rio.
She helped coach the Canadian team to a respectable, albeit disappointing seventh place finish, after their Pan Am Games gold medal last year. Canada bowed out in the quarter finals to the fourth place finishers from France. In the tournament the team won three and lost three, defeating China, Serbia and Senegal.
The highlight for the team may have been the thrilling 71-67 victory over eventual bronze medalists, Serbia in the round robin. Canada trailed by 12 heading into the final quarter and out scored the Serbians 26-10 in the final frame.
