The Senior Women's National Team is coming off a great start to the summer having won the Gold Medal at the Pan Am Games in Toronto. The next step for them is to qualify for the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro by winning the FIBA Americas Tournament taking place in Edmonton. Leading up to the Americas Tournament we spoke to our SWNT members and they gave us their thoughts on a few things and here's what they had to say. To buy tickets for the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, click here.

Lizanne Murphy – building a relationship with the fans

Lizanne's Profile

The truth is it’s really exciting to be a part of the Women’s National Team. We’re so proud to play basketball and represent our country.  Everyone I know and everyone we come in contact with knows that we’re a special group, for women’s basketball in particular. We kind of represent Canadian identity – we’re the team that is gonna try to out-work you, the team that is going to fight to the end, a team that you can feel what we’re feeling. We know that we’re a special group and we want everyone else to know that we’re a special group too and to see how passionate we are about Canada Basketball.  We’ve been solid for a long time – we’ve gone to three World Championships straight – and we have been consistently doing well. It’s pretty cool that we’re not the best kept secret in the country anymore.

As a team I think we’re likable. We’re not so famous or rich that we’re unrelatable. We’re your next-door neighbor so it’s easier to bring people on this ride we’re on. After games with professional teams in Europe, you have people running onto the court and people hugging that you don’t even know. I think we’re a very approachable team. After the Pan Am Games we were out signing autographs, taking pictures with kids, being interactive.

I believe that us being approachable is drawing people to the team and the game. We talk to everybody at the games and when you talk to someone, it does make an impact because they see us as something bigger. When I was younger, I going to McGill games with my dad and asking for autographs from the players and I still remember those moments. A little kid watching us play, getting to meet us, can inspire them. We’re taking the role of ambassadors for the country and if we’re taking that role then you have to act the part. If we’re not good to the fans then there will be no fans and that’s no fun.

We want people to experience what we go through. We really want the country to be excited about love women’s basketball and us. We’re an unbelievable team and we think that Canada would be able to see a lot themselves in us.

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