Canadian WNBA trio shows pathway younger players can follow to top league

All Canadian eyes will be on Minnesota to start the WNBA season.

That's where two core members of the national team, Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton, will team up on the Lynx.

The third and final Canadian in the WNBA, Phoenix's Kia Nurse, is still recovering from a knee injury suffered in the playoffs last October.

For the second straight year, Achonwa, Carleton and Nurse are the only Canadians in the world's top women's basketball league, which tips off the 2022 season on Friday.

It's a low number for the FIBA's fourth-ranked women's basketball nation, though still comparable with No. 2 Spain and No. 5 Belgium.

But entry to the league is even more imperative for Canadians, who don't have a domestic league on which to fall back — and since the WNBA consists of just 12 teams of 12 players, making the league is no easy task.

Team Canada general manager Denise Dignard said the organization hopes to increase that number by focusing on the individual needs of players.

"For us, it's a work on and off the court from when they're younger," Dignard said. "But ultimately, for them, the responsibility becomes to focus on those things that are going to allow them to be able to be selected within a WNBA franchise."

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