Thornhill resident plays key supporting role in Canadian women's basketball success

Yorkregion.com
May 19, 2016
By David Li

With the Toronto Raptors playing in the Eastern Conference finals, basketball fans in the GTA and across the country have a lot to cheer about.

And in a few months many of these same basketball fans will be cheering on the Canadian women’s basketball team as they compete for Olympic gold at the Rio Summer Olympics.

One person who will be working hard behind the scenes to ensure the Canadian squad meets their objective in Rio is Thornhill’s Elaine Sun.

As manager of basketball operations for the Canadian women’s team, Sun takes pride in the fact that her work off the basketball court contributes to their success on the court.

“I handle all logistical aspects for the team and ensure that all the ‘behind the scenes’ details are taken care of so that our athletes and team can compete at the highest level,” said the former St. Robert’s Catholic High School student and University of Toronto grad of her role.

The self described basketball enthusiast first joined Canada Basketball in 2011 and over the past five years she’s been an important part of teams which have represented Canada at the highest levels, including world championships, as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.

With the Canadian women’s national team winning gold at the Pan Am games and the FIBA Americas last year, Sun is talking proud about the current state of the women’s national program.

“Women’s basketball is on the rise in Canada. We have exciting and talented athletes coming up through the ranks and I think we will continue to build on the successes of last year into the future,” said the Thornhill resident, who played competitive basketball throughout her high school years.

As for the Canadian men’s team, they are one of the favourites to earn a spot in the final Olympic qualifier later this summer in the Philippines.

While she is happy about all the recent Canadian success on the basketball courts, Sun is perhaps most excited about the future of the sport.

“It is great to see the Raptors have success the last few years. I believe that the recent success of the Raptors and our Canadian national teams - on both the women’s and men’s side - could help to inspire the next generation of athletes in our country.”