Courtesy: Electric Umbrella/Derek Elvin/Huskie Athletics

By Wray Morrison

Olympic Return For Thomaidis

Leading Germany to Paris

Apr 11, 2024 | 10:16 AM

Veteran basketball coach Lisa Thomaidis has seen just about everything at every level of women’s basketball. The Dundas, Ontario product and former McMaster Marauder played pro ball in Greece in the 1990’s before embarking on a storied coaching run which flourishes today. In an amazing 25 year run with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, Thomaidis has led the program to a pair of national titles and on three occasions has been named U SPORTS coach of the year.

Her impressive international resume includes a 21-year coaching stint with Team Canada, including 9 as head coach. She led the nation to FIBA Women’s AmeriCup and Pan Am gold medals and propelled the team to a quarter-final showing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The Canadian team climbed to being ranked fourth in the world at the end of her tenure.

However, even at this stage of her career, Thomaidis is experiencing a first. This summer, less than a year after being named Germany’s head coach, Thomaidis will lead the program to its only Olympic appearance in Paris. “Making history for the German women’s team – It’s something incredibly special that we’ve done together.” she said. “We’re ecstatic to be going, it’s a phenomenal opportunity.”

Thomaidis took over as head coach in May of 2023. After working with the team, both remotely and in person, Germany defeated the host nation, 8^th ranked Brazil, by two points at the FIBA Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament in February to secure a berth to Paris. “I was really proud of our team”, she said. “We played with incredible composure despite the extremely challenging environment.”

While Germany may not be considered an international powerhouse, the team is blessed with some talented players. Satou Sabally is a 6-4 forward with the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, who battled through with a torn labrum in the win over Brazil. “It was incredible toughness and resilience to even compete in that game,” Thomaidis said. Satou’s sister, Nyara Sabally, and Leonie Fiebich of the New York Liberty are also members of the German national team.

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Thomaidis along with assistant coaches Claire Meadows, Anne Marie Thuss and Sidney Parsons will only have a short amount of time with the team ahead of the Olympics. Germany’s first game is against Belgium on July 29^th. A lot of our athletes, their professional leagues don’t finish until Mid-May and then they need a bit of a break” Thomaidis said. “We’ve got some players who are coming off injuries and players that are trying to come back after having a baby. There are lots of things in the works for sure. We’re likely just going to get together at the end of June and then we’ll have a solid month or 5 weeks to get ready.”

Germany is in pool with Belgium (2023 European champions), Japan (6-time Asia Cup champions), and the United States (4-time defending Olympic gold medalists) for the Paris games. “It’s a terrible group”, Thomaidis joked.

When asked what success looks like for the Germans, Thomaidis said, “Did we do everything we could to be prepared? Are we playing our best basketball? If you are, then you have to be comfortable with the outcome. We’re playing with the 12 best teams in the world at the Olympic games. That is a massive accomplishment. You can’t lose sight of that.”

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wray.morrison@pattisonmedia.com

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