Friday, Jun 11, 2004
Globe and Mail
By JIM MORRIS

Bev Smith inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

As a teenager growing up in Salmon Arm, B.C., Bev Smith watched on television as women's basketball make its Olympic debut at the 1976 Games in Montreal.

What fuelled the 16-year-old's imagination was Uljana Semjonova, the seven-foot Russian star who led her team to the gold medal.

"I just felt I had to somehow get to the place where I could compete against her because she represented the best in women's basketball," Smith, 44, said in an interview.

"For me it set a dream in my mind where I would like to go to see how I would measure up against the best in the world."

That was the first step in a journey that would see Smith become one of the best basketball players Canada ever produced and result her being inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday.

"To be recognized by them is something that hits home a little bit," said Smith, who already is a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

"It's a reflection of my American college experience. As well it's a reflection that young Canadian athletes can compete with the best here in the U.S. and can be recognized for it. I'm lucky but I think there's people that will follow me into the Hall of Fame."

Established in June 1999, the hall's goal is to "honour the past, celebrate the present and promote the future" of women's basketball.

During her career, the six-foot-one forward starred at the University of Oregon, then went on to be both a player and coach for the Canadian women's national team. She played professionally and coached in Italy for 15 years, then turned full circle and returned to Oregon to coach the women's team.

Proving dreams can come true, Smith's Italian club team beat Semjonova's side in a European Cup final.

"She was a very interesting woman, like a gentle giant," Smith said, talking over the airport loudspeaker during a stopover in Chicago on her flight to Knoxville.

"Things like that are pretty amazing. Sometimes you really have to stop and realize how plausible dreams are if you follow your dreams."

Smith led the Salmon Arm Jewels on an 89-game winning streak and three provincial high school championships from 1976 to '78.

She attended the University of Oregon on a scholarship where she was a two-time all-American and remains the school's top rebounder.

As a national team member Smith led Canada to bronze medals at the 1979 and 1989 Pan American Games, and third-place finishes at the 1979 and 1986 world championships.

She played in two Olympics, the 1984 Games in Los Angeles where Canada finished fourth, and the 1996 Atlanta Games, her final appearance as a Team Canada player.

As a coach, she guided Canada to a silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and a 10th-place finish at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In 200 1, Smith returned to Oregon and coached the Ducks to the WNIT championship in her first season.

One of the biggest hurdles Canadian athletes face is a lack of funding at home, Smith said. This forces the country's brightest stars to leave.

"It doesn't mean we don't have the coaches in Canada, or we don't have the players," she said.

"But we certainly don't have that kind of passion or funding emphasis that would allow our Canadian teams to be successful, particularly on the international scene."

The young women Smith coaches now are better athletes than she was, but sometimes lack basic basketball skills.

"I think we're going through the same thing that hockey went through," she said.

"We play so many games when we're younger that the skills seem to have been left behind. If you look at the NBA . . . a lot of Europeans are coming in because they are a little bit more skilled than the athletic Americans."

If Smith has a regret during her playing career it was Canada failing to qualify for the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

"We were predicted to place well at Seoul and couldn't get out of the qualifying tournament," she said. "I think we had a team that could have done some things."

Smith said basketball has given her a life she never imagined as a child.

"I never, ever imagined when I left high school I would play until I was 36, live in a foreign country," she said. "I thought all along I would become a teacher and live in rural Canada somewhere. This has been a quite a ride."