Q&A: Christa Eniojukan on her coaching journey, Canadian women's basketball and GLOBL JAM

TORONTO – Christa Eniojukan credits her coaches for instilling a love of basketball in her from an early age, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising to see where she is today. Eniojukan is set to coach the Canadian Under-23 women’s team at GLOBL JAM this week, making her Canadian National team head coaching debut. 

Eniojukan grew up in Guelph, Ont., where she dreamed of becoming a professional track and field athlete competing at the Olympics. She didn’t know she wanted to play basketball, let alone coach. But after playing for the Guelph CYO Basketball Club in Grade 9 and being pushed by what she described as “really passionate coaches that fuelled me,” she left track and field and began to focus on basketball. It set the foundation for the rest of her career. 

Eniojukan played for St. James Catholic High School in Guelph before moving on to Laurier University, in Waterloo, Ont., where she earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology and physical education and was a two-time team MVP of the Golden Hawks. Then, she went to York University in Toronto to complete her bachelor of education degree, where was the team’s most valuable player in 2005. She currently serves as the head coach of the York Lions women’s basketball team.

We caught up with Eniojukan after a Team Canada Under-23 practice to discuss her coaching journey, the growth of women’s basketball in Canada and beyond, GLOBL JAM 2023, and much more. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Sportsnet: So, tell us about the transition from being a student athlete at Laurier and York to then beginning your coaching career. How did you get into coaching?

Christa Eniojukan: So, right after university, I started doing Centre for Performance programs, which was a high-level training program run through Canada Basketball at the time. And the people there just really inspired me and also threw me into things at a very young age. So, that challenged me and fuelled me to want more and figure out how to do more. 

I was also a teacher at the time, so I got to experiment with coaching strategies with the kids at school, which I really enjoyed. And then shortly after I got into rep coaching and then provincial team coaching. I had my kids at that time, but that passion and fuel was there, so I just figured it out when my kids were born and kept coaching.

SN: Who inspired you to stay in basketball during your days of playing and coaching?

CE: I was a fan of whatever I could see. I was a Raptors fan growing up. I remember at a very early age watching basketball at the University of Guelph. And then the Australian women’s national team came and played at the University of Guelph once when I was young. So, there was a lot of access to basketball growing up — we got to see stuff like that all the time. So, knowing that there was more out there than just what was in front of us, and always wanting to just learn and see the best and to be a part of the best, that fuelled me.

SN: What is your favourite part of coaching?

CE: I think it's the ongoing challenge: the balance between the challenge of building relationships and bonds with the X's and O's. So, it's like this interesting mix that you have to collaborate and bring it all together in order to get one perfect outcome. You have to build that culture. You have to make sure that your details on the court are proper. And there are a lot of different balls in the air that you have to bring together to make a perfect team.

SN: How would you describe your coaching style? 

CE: I would say I'm a pretty holistic coach, where I'm looking at the game in all facets. And so: what is the mental capacity that the athletes have to be able to be challenged? What does their strength and conditioning look like? What's the food that they’re eating like? 

There's so many layers to why one team can show up and be great and one team cannot — why you can perform at your very best versus your competition, and your competition can't, even if they may be more talented than you. So, I have that desire and that perseverance to try to figure it all out. But I think I look at it holistically.

SN: That’s really interesting. I don’t think I've ever heard coaching described in that way. Moving on, what is a characteristic that you think many Canadian basketball players share? 

CE: I would say a lot of Canadian basketball players have good basketball IQ. I think in Canada we do a really good job of teaching the game. And so when we're able to combine their IQ with their athletic ability and their toughness, then I think the sky's the limit for us.

SN: Where do you think that high IQ comes from?

CE: I think it has to come from the grassroots. I think we do a really good job in Canada of developing our players and teaching the game and teaching them decision-making and reads, and I think from a young age, in order, to compete at the highest levels, they know they have to learn those things.  

SN: Speaking of coaching at the highest levels, you have been involved with Canada Basketball since 2010, coaching Team Ontario’s U17 women’s teams to two gold and two silver medals at the Canada Basketball 17U National Championships. How have you seen the level of women’s basketball talent rise in this country? 

CE: Throughout my time coaching Team Ontario, we could see that we were continually getting better and better, and we were competing at higher levels and getting to championships and so forth. And now you can see elite Canadian AAU programs like the Kia Nurse Elite team become one of the top teams in the world, constantly making it deep into the playoffs. And plus, the OSBA prep league in Ontario, it's very, very strong. Myself as a university coach at York, the talent that we're seeing is high, and there's a reason why so many NCAA schools are coming after our athletes and wanting them to come and play south, right? 

So I think we used to have spurts where we'd be good for a year or two. But now we're constantly seeing every single year, there's a couple of really special athletes coming out. And so I think, again, that is not by accident.

SN: You’ve also worked with the national program as a performance analyst for the 2022 FIBA U17 Women's World Cup in Hungary last summer. But what does it mean to get your Canadian national team head coaching debut at GLOBL JAM, right here in Toronto? 

CE: It’s extra special, obviously, to be able to coach. But I come from Ajax, Ont., so to be able to do it in the GTA, on home soil, and have all your family or friends come out makes it even more special. It's a very rare opportunity. There are many athletes on this roster who haven’t been able to play at home since they were in high school. So, I know they're going to come out ready to compete and show their pride in their passion for their country.

SN: As someone who has a young daughter, what do you think it is going to mean for young Canadian girls to be able to watch high-level women’s basketball in downtown Toronto at GLOBL JAM? 

CE: It reminds me of the WNBA Canada game this summer, where I had goosebumps. Every few steps I ran into excited little girls there, right? And I think that same experience, for young girls like my 12-year-old daughter to be able to come here and see what it looks like — I was never able to watch female basketball being played like that. Like I said, there was that one time where I saw Team Australia come and play, but that was once. This is a consistent thing that families can look forward to and follow. It’s gonna go a long way for the next generation.

SN: Lastly, what do you make of the growth of women’s basketball that we are seeing across Canada, the NCAA and WNBA? Did you ever imagine this when you were growing up?

CE: Honestly, I can remember as a young girl recording the NCAA championship game on a VHS tape, because that was the one game a year that a female would be on TV (in Canada). And now, here I am coaching GLOBL JAM, and all of our games are going to be televised. Like, that's crazy to me. 

And so we've come a long way. And we've shown that the numbers don't lie: When you invest in women's sport, people are watching, there's viewership there. It's definitely there. So, the sky's the limit. And I can't wait until we get our own WNBA team in Toronto, so we can take this to the next level.