Thomaidis, Canada Basketball 'part ways' after national squad's Olympic struggles
Lisa Thomaidis's long tenure with the Canadian women's basketball team has ended.
Sep 28, 2021 • Last Updated September 28, 2021 • 2 minute read
Coach Lisa Thomaidis of Team Canada looks on as her team plays Serbia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Gregory Shamus /Getty Images
Lisa Thomaidis's long tenure with the Canadian women's basketball team has ended.
Thomaidis and Canada Basketball "mutually agreed to part ways," the organization said in a Tuesday press release.
Thomaidis, who also coaches the national-powerhouse University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hoops squad, watched Team Canada team go 1-2 at the Tokyo Olympics after entering the event with medal hopes . She was hired as national team head coach in 2013, and was an assistant coach with the program for 12 years before that.
Her contract expires at the end of September.
"Through everyone's passion and dedication, we elevated our program to where it is today," Thomaidis — who leaves with an 83-44 career mark — said in the release. "As I step aside, I do so with immense pride and satisfaction, knowing that I gave everything I had to the program."
Thomaidis, who led her Huskies to the 2020 U Sports national championship , was Canada's head coach at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, and guided her team to a fifth-place showing at FIBA worlds in 2014. That's Canada's second-highest finish there.
In Tokyo, Canada failed to advance out of group play, after reaching the quarter-finals in their previous two Olympics.
"After careful consideration and discussion with Lisa," said Denise Dignard, Canada Basketball's general manager and executive vice-president of women's high performance, "we both recognize that this is a necessary step that our program must make in our continued pursuit of a place on the podium at the highest level of international competitions, as well as for Lisa, both personally and professionally.
"There is no doubt that Lisa has been instrumental in the long-term growth and success of this team."
On the university side, Thomaidis's Huskies open their pre-season schedule Oct. 14 in Victoria.
'A different feel': Tokyo Olympics a strange beast, even for veteran Team Canada coach Lisa Thomaidis
Best and worst of times: Season was an emotional rollercoaster for Huskies' coach of the year Lisa Thomaidis