It was a busy weekend for the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball in building on the profile of an accomplished U Sports program.
Past, present and future athletes were in attendance at the 16th annual “Raise a Paw” brunch on Sunday at TCU Place. The event aims to raise money to continue team success.
Head coach Lisa Thomaidis is back on the bench for her 18th season and to help her continue to build on the tradition of excellence, financial support is important.
“The money that it generates goes solely towards Huskies women’s basketball scholarships and it’s really allowed us to go out and recruit the best players in the country,” Thomaidis said.
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After completing a sweep of the Brandon Bobcats at the PAC, the Huskies revealed their first national championship banner on Saturday.
What wasn’t visible was the effort the team goes through to raise money for scholarships and attract talented athletes to play in Saskatoon. The Raise a Paw brunch does just that.
“To be able to have events like this, to have sponsors, community support really is what fosters growth and what fosters national championships,” Taya Keujer, 2015-16 national champion, said.
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Raise a Paw raised around $25,000 this year but for Huskie alumnus Pat Lawson, who coached from 1956 to 1967, there’s a stark contrast in the opportunities afforded for players now compared to her time.
“We had to vie for gym time, we just had the one gym, so it was the men’s turn and then ours but they never got off the court and so it was always a problem,” Lawson said.
Additionally, there were no scholarships when Lawson played.
“My very first year, we had one scholarship that we could offer and it was worth $3,500, I believe. Now, I would say in this past year we awarded over $55,000,” Thomaidis said.
“If you don’t have that then you don’t recruit the top players in the country, you don’t have the pre-season games to develop and learn so these things definitely flow into winning,” Keujer said.
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Funding for female athletes has increased substantially but there is still inequality.
“Being able to have equitable scholarships available to both men and women and again I’m not talking about the U of S because we do a fantastic job of that in terms of gender equity,” Thomaidis said.
“But across the country, I think that’s something that just needs to be a mainstay. It shouldn’t be an exception, it should just be the norm.”
Claire Hanna contributed to this story
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