TORONTO, ON (November 3, 2017) - Canada Basketball's Senior Women's National Team announced today that Shawnee Harle has retired from her assistant coach position.

"Following a recent series of significant life events, I have decided to retire from my position with the senior women's national team," said Harle.  "I am paying attention to the adage 'tomorrow isn't promised' and I know the time is right to take a step back and pursue more life balance.  I also want to focus on and invest in building my coaching business following my recent move to Vernon, BC."

An assistant coach with the senior women's national team since 2013, Harle helped lead Canada to several memorable victories on the world stage, including back-to-back FIBA Women's AmeriCup titles, a gold medal at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games and a 7th place finish at the Rio 2016 Summer Games Olympics.

"I have had an incredible run with our senior women's national team and have loved every minute," said Harle. "The journey has changed me, it has grown and stretched me, it has enriched me.  One of the highlights of my life has been wearing the maple leaf and I leave with memories that I will treasure forever.  It's been an incredible ride and I am truly grateful that I got to be part of it."

Prior to joining the senior women's national team, Harle served as an assistant coach with the development women's national team that competed in Montenegro and Belgium in 2012.

The previous summer, Harle was an assistant coach for the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China where Canada finished in sixth place.

Harle also was an assistant coach with the Canadian National Women's Team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta as well as the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia and the World Championships in Sydney, Australia in 1994.

The Campbell River, B.C. native is the only basketball coach in Canada, male or female, to attain her Level V certification and will continue to be involved with Canada Basketball in various roles.

QUOTES

"As a two-time Olympic coach, Shawnee has contributed an incredible amount of time to the senior women's national team program and for that we will always be grateful. Shawnee's experiences and personality make her an ideal person to share her coaching experiences throughout the basketball community in Canada." - Michele O'Keefe, President & CEO, Canada Basketball

"On behalf of our women's high performance program, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Shawnee for her outstanding contribution as an assistant coach with the senior team over the past few years. We are very appreciative of her contributions and are extremely grateful to Shawnee for her tremendous loyalty, dedication and commitment to the senior team and to Canada Basketball." - Denise Dignard, Director, Women's High Performance.

"Shawnee's passion, dedication, energy and knowledge of the game has played a large part in the success of our women's national team over the last quad.  Her wealth of knowledge and ability to think 'outside the box' will truly be missed. I am extremely grateful for all that I have learned from her as a colleague, but also as an amazing individual and friend. As much as I will miss her on the bench, I look forward to seeing her continued impact on the game and the development of coaches in Canada." - Lisa Thomaidis, Head Coach, Senior Women's National Team

"Shawnee is a coach, a mentor, and a friend; she has made so many contributions to coaching in Canada. On behalf of the Coaching Association of Canada, I'd like to recognize her passion and devotion towards not only increasing the female coaching capacity, but also towards developing quality coaches across all sports in the Canadian system. I know she will continue to inspire, and for that, the coaching community is very thankful." - Lorraine Lafreniere, CEO, Coaching Association of Canada

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