Mission basketball legend Kim Smith Gaucher enters her fourth Olympics this week with a little less control.
In her three Olympics as a player for the Canadian national team, Gaucher impacted the game directly on the court. Now, she has shifted to coaching.
Gaucher is the head coach for the first-ever Canadian women’s 3x3 squad to qualify for the Olympics, made up of Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon, Katherine Plouffe and Michelle Plouffe.
The squad has been playing together for a long time, but Gaucher says there haven’t been challenges in helming a group already familiar with each other.
“I've actually been teammates with two of them, so I feel like I've helped some of them grow. Some of them were almost like younger sisters. I mentored them in their early days of the national team,” Gaucher said. “It's really cool that now they're helping me develop as a coach. It's been kind of a cool cycle.”
Conversations with national team coach Allison McNeill and former Heritage Park coach Bruce Langford have helped Gaucher with the transition. Vocalizing her thoughts on the game rather than showing them on the court has been a hurdle for Gaucher in the shift to the sidelines.
“You can't just jump out there and demonstrate anymore – that's been the biggest thing. But a lot of it has been so much fun. This is an incredible group to work with,” Gaucher said.
Team Canada will open its tournament against Australia on July 30 in its first of seven games in five days. The 3x3 tournament features eight teams in a round-robin format before the knockout rounds.
“Now that we're there, it sort of feels like the pressure’s off and it's time to go and have some fun and get rewarded for all the work that they put in,” Gaucher said.
Canada punched its ticket to Paris at the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Debrecen, Hungary in May. Gaucher says in 3x3, anything can happen.
“In just a 10-minute game, it's not always the best team that wins. So that’s what makes it exciting,” Gaucher said.
The national team has been preparing for the Olympics with tune-up tournaments and a training camp in Toronto. However, injuries hampered the squad’s preparations.
“We really only got our squad together one time since qualifiers in Edmonton and nobody was 100 per cent but that just means we're ready to peak at the right time,” she said.
After three trips to the Olympics, Gaucher is urging the team to enjoy the experience. She says sometimes the journey is the hardest part.
“We know that this is when Canada pays attention,” Gaucher said. “This is a group that's really passionate about growing the game of 3x3 – I think it's something that could that could explode in Canada and could be really big and this is the group that that can put it in the spotlight.”
With increased attention on women’s basketball, Gaucher says it’s about time. She hopes the 3x3 squad makes a statement while Canada is watching.
“Women's sports have been good for a long time. People are finally paying attention and it's great because, yeah, the product is there and deserves to get that kind of recognition,” she said. “We're not there yet, I would say, but it's catching up.”
Gaucher returns to France for the Olympics where she carved out a lengthy career overseas for USO Mondeville. She played her final game as a pro in 2022. Her family will spend some time in Normandy after the Olympics.
“It feels like home – that's where [my daughter] was born,” she said.
The 3x3 squad will wrap up round-robin play on Aug. 3 against Azerbaijan.
