Steps to success: Paul Sir talks about FIBA 3x3

On Friday, November 1, at the FIBA3x3 Men’s World Finals, FIBA named the countries who are in and other nations that will participate in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments for the inaugural appearance of 3x3 at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Canada will be part of the men’s qualifying tournament in India in March 2020. The Canadian women’s team did not receive a qualifying bid.

Here are the details on Canada’s results:

Canadian 3x3 men’s team

Team Edmonton led the efforts to help Canada earn a spot in the 3x3 Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Twenty teams will take part in the tournament, with three qualifying for the 2020 Summer Games.

Team Edmonton played in 19 events over 8 months and closed the year with consecutive strong finishes in major World Tour tournaments that led Canada to the Federation ranking of 18th. Their performance combined with the efforts of Team Winnipeg, Team Old Montreal, a number of additional men’s teams playing in multiple events in Canada and abroad all contributed to this accomplishment. World Tour events in Saskatoon, Montreal and Edmonton also aided in this successful effort.

Canadian 3x3 Women’s Team

Team Canada women’s team played in seven FIBA3x3 Women’s Series events. They finished with 4 tournament wins and were 2nd overall on the Tour but Canada’s Federation ranking on the women’s side was 26th. This was not a high enough ranking for the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Following are the reasons why Canada’s women did not make the tournament:

• FIBA3x3 and the International Olympic Committee agreed on a process that encouraged nations to build their national rankings based on the top 100 players results in a 12-month season accumulated by playing in 3x3 FIBA sanctioned events. Points were weighted based on the level of event and success in the competitions. Nations that had the most players playing in the most events along with hosting events built up the most points.

• Canada’s national program did not generate the points necessary for Canada’s women’s program for 3x3 due to very low participation numbers. For example, only 15 women in the entire country played more than 1 FIBA sanctioned event in the last 12 months. No one played in the 9 qualifying events that are available to maximize the points that an individual could accumulate.
• Countries like Mongolia and Romania have been developing their 3x3 programs for over 15 years and have hundreds of participants and events. Russia and China have massive 3x3 programs. The United States became very active in 3x3 in the past 2 years.
• Bottom line: Canada did not do enough as a nation to reach the necessary Federation ranking.

This is the first 3x3 Olympic competition. The lesson that needs to be learned to avoid a situation like this from occurring again is for Canada to build and execute a strategy to grow the sport across the country year after year for both genders.

We wish the Team Canada men’s team the best of luck in the Olympic Qualification Tournament!