For Patrick and Tamara Tatham, the secret to both their on-court and off-court success has been taking life one possession at a time.

Patrick has coached the McMaster Marauders Men’s Basketball Team since 2017, while his younger sister Tamara is entering her second season leading the University of Toronto women’s program. Both are accomplished basketball players who are now continuing their legacy as coaches.

Parents Pauline and Roy Tatham taught their children the value of patience and persistent work ethic from a young age, a message Patrick and Tamara are now preaching to their players.

“The only thing I can ask all of my student athletes for is to be ready for their opportunity,” said Patrick. “Prior to getting whatever opportunity comes on the court, off the court, in life, your preparation is everything. If you're consistent before the opportunity arrives, then you'll be more than ready when the time comes.”

This lesson is a mantra all three Tatham siblings – Patrick, Tamara, and their younger sister Alisha have embodied throughout their basketball careers.

Patrick began coaching at Stoneridge Preparatory School in California, before spending five seasons as a lead assistant under Roy Rana at Ryerson University. The Brampton, Ontario native observed, learned, and continuously worked on his craft before eventually getting the nod to take over as interim head coach when Rana left for sabbatical in 2015.

During Tatham’s first year leading the Rams, his team finished atop the standings and won the school’s first provincial title after defeating the five-time reigning National champion Carleton Ravens. Tatham earned the OUA Coach of the Year Award and became the first ever Rams leader to win Coach of the Year at the national level.

Consistent habits and constant learning prepared Tatham for that moment. And not just six years as an assistant coach, but decades of studying the game, dating all the way back to his time teaching his younger sisters, Tamara and Alisha in their driveway.

The siblings bonded over the sport and would record each other’s games on a vintage camcorder purchased by their father, so they could watch the footage later on in their basement.

“We've always been close-knit, but sports tied us right in,” said Tamara.

Not only did they study each other’s game film, but the trio also have fond memories of the clashes between Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing back in the 1990s. Watching track and field at the Summer Olympics was also a family event for the Tathams, who have Jamaican heritage. Tamara herself ran track until she began playing basketball at age 13.

Despite entering the sport later than some of her peers, Tamara went on to make Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team through an open tryout in 2007 fresh off a successful four-year career at the University of Massachusetts. She played alongside her sister Alisha in college, and the pair went on to represent Canada at the London 2012 Olympics together. Tamara also won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto before wearing the maple leaf again at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016.

“I think the love and the competitive fire that I had as a young girl growing up really brought me to such a successful basketball career,” said the Brampton, Ontario native. “I'm the middle child. My sister and I would never beat my brother and I would never let my sister beat me. Having the three of us growing up playing each other, that dynamic really brought out the competitive spirit.”

On and off the court, the trio were widely supportive of each other and remained grounded despite their success. Their number one goal was to continue to play the game they loved while pursuing post-secondary education.

“We kind of just took it more so one day at a time as opposed to looking at the long term,” said Tamara. “I had no idea I was going to become an Olympian, I had no idea I was going to play on the national team. Growing up my dream was just to continue to play and have fun. Then once I got to university, that's where the dream of competing at another level came about.”

All three Tatham siblings were recruited into the NCAA on scholarships, and each went on to play professionally overseas. This mindset of taking life one possession at a time meant that it wasn’t until after Patrick and Tamara officially retired as athletes that coaching became a serious suitor for their time.

Although the Cleveland State graduate was focused on playing in his younger days, Patrick reflects back on a pair of former Toronto Raptors coaches whose presence was vital in inspiring him to pursue the art of coaching.

“As far as back as I can remember, two individuals that showed that there was a potential that I could eventually coach one day at a very high level are Lenny Wilkens and Butch Carter,” said Tatham. “Two Black coaches in the NBA at the time, coaching here in Toronto, when I was still in high school, that definitely sat in the back of my head.”

Throughout their basketball journeys, both OUA coaches have emphasized the importance of representation.

For Tamara, she grew up idolizing the likes of Cynthia Cooper and Lisa Leslie in the WNBA. The league was founded in 1996 while she was still in grade school. The two-time Olympian distinctly remembers how essential it was for her younger self to see women playing basketball professionally.

Patrick and Tamara themselves have now become role models that young Black athletes admire. In 2016, Patrick became the first Black individual to win the Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy (CIS Coach of the Year). Tamara was a mentor coach with the Raptors 905 during the 2018 season, becoming the first Canadian woman, and first Black Canadian woman to coach a men’s professional basketball team.

“There’s going to be a lot more Black women that are going to come after me and do the same exact thing,” said Tatham. “That’s what's inspiring, to see that I can inspire a lot of our young, Black girls to see this. That means a ton to me, because a lot of these young girls, if they don't see it, they don't know what they can get.”

Equally important to representation is mentorship and providing opportunity. Patrick and Tamara both acknowledged the work of Lee Anna Osei, a colleague and friend who founded the Black Canadian Coaches Association. Osei is the head coach of the women’s basketball team at St. Francis Xavier University and has created a platform for Black coaches to post news, job openings, and to connect through their shared experiences.

Although their coaching legacies are just beginning, Patrick and Tamara are hoping to inspire young athletes in a way that goes far beyond the field of play.

“For me, it’s coaching to the heart or coaching to actual athletes themselves, not the Xs and Os of the game,” said Patrick. “I dream to coach our national team at some point in time. But, my faith is very strong and I just will patiently wait to see what happens next. Until then, I'm just enjoying what I do with our age group teams, and with my McMaster men's basketball team.”

“What I want to see in the future of my coaching, I want to take it one day at a time. I want to see what I can do and what I can create at U of T,” said Tamara. “My ‘why’ is seeing our athletes flourish, not just on the basketball court but off the court as well. To see them growing into young women that are empowering and can lead in any space of their lives when they leave university.”

Both Patrick and Tamara had widely successful playing careers that took them around the world. Their coaching careers will likely follow a similar path, but they’ll be taking their journey one possession at a time.