Canada Basketball men's head therapist gets key Olympic job

"Canada Basketball is proud to announce that Sam Gibbs, Canada Basketball’s head therapist for the men’s national program, has been named assistant chief therapist for the 2012 Olympic Games in London by the Canadian Olympic Committee.

“We are very proud of Sam and excited for his opportunity with the Canadian Olympic Committee at the 2012 London Olympic Games,” said Andrew Cook, Canada Basketball’s manager of men’s elite performance. “As our men’s national team program’s head therapist, Sam has given nearly 20 years of tremendous dedication to Canadian high performance athletes and he is very deserving of his selection to serve as the assistant chief therapist.”

Gibbs’s experience with high-performance athletes is extensive. He has worked with many professional and amateur athletes and national medical teams for a number of major international competitions including the Goodwill Games, Pan-Am Games, World Women’s Hockey Championships, World University Games as well as the Olympic Games.

In addition to the work he has done internationally, Gibbs has also worked with the Toronto Raptors as the team's assistant athletic trainer."

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Junior men begin preparations for the FIBA U19 world championships

"Canada Basketball has announced the 22 athletes participating in the tryout by invitation camp and team staff for the Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT). This is the first step as the JMNT prepares for the 2011 U19 FIBA World Championship in Latvia. The tryout camp will run from June 10–12 at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. 

This marks the first time since 1996 the National Team Program will hold camp at the world class facilities of Laurentian University. This partnership continues to build the relationship between Canada Basketball and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), which will further integrate all levels of basketball from coast to coast. The Voyageur athletic staff is among the top administration staffs in the CIS and includes former National Team member Shawn Swords, who serves as the Men’s Basketball head coach."

2011 JUNIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM STAFF

Greg Francis - Head Coach - Edmonton, AB
Pete Guarasci - Assistant Coach - Kelowna, BC
Shawn Swords - Assistant Coach - Sudbury, ON
Dean McCord - Team Manager - Calgary, AB
Minh Nguyen - Athletic Therapist - Ottawa, ON
John Philpott - Team Doctor - Toronto, ON

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Saskatchewan's Lieffers Named to Canada’s Men’s Basketball Team

"Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Canada Basketball, announced Wednesday the 12 student-athletes and the team personnel who will represent Canada in men’s basketball at the 26th Summer Universiade from August 12-23, 2011, in Shenzhen, China."
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"Rounding out the team personnel are assistant coaches John Campbell from Dalhousie University and Barnaby Craddock from the University of the Fraser Valley, manager Sandy MacIntosh, as well as athletic therapist Geoff Mabey.

Team Canada will hold a training camp in Vancouver from Aug. 2-6 before travelling to Shenzhen to continue its preparation and play some exhibition matches from Aug. 7-12."

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