The Dalhousie Tigers - Dalhousie University

A Kensington, P.E.I., native, Anna elected to come to Dal to play after her volleyball coach at Kensington Intermediate Senior High School thought she would not be able to make the UNB team who was dominating the AUAA conference at the time. He thought Dalhousie was a better fit as they too had a good physical education program and had an up and coming basketball team. Bound and determined to be the best that she could be, Anna surpassed his and her own expectations on her way to becoming the first and only Dalhousie female basketball player to represent Canada at the Olympics, world championships, Pan American Games and World University Games.

She arrived on campus in September of 1978 to begin her playing career with the Tigers. A multi-sport athlete, Anna soon found herself on both the cross country and basketball teams which would be the start of a very illustrious career with the Tigers and beyond.

Anna amassed more than 1,000 points in her five years with the Tigers on her way to leading Dalhousie to their best-ever CIAU championship finishes with a silver medal in the 1979-80 season and a bronze in 1981-82. An AUAA all-star in 1980-81, she was the league MVP in both the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. A team captain for two years, Anna was a two-time CIAU all-Canadian, earning second team honours in 1981-82 before being named to the first team in the 1982-83 season. She received the Class of ’55 Award as Dalhousie’s female athlete of the year at the end of the 1982-83 season.

She got her national team start as part of Canada’s junior national squad in the summer of 1980. After suffering a severe ankle injury that required surgery in 1981, she made her way on to the national senior team in 1982 where she would stay for 10 years, including three as a team captain. She represented Canada at many different international events, highlighted by leading Canada to a fourth place finish at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She went to three FIBA world championships, earning a bronze medal at the 1986 event in Moscow. Anna played a big role in Canada’s success at Pan American Games including a fourth place finish in Venezuela in 1983 leading up to the Olympics. She also went to two FISU World University Games in 1983 and 1985 and many other international and Olympic qualifying events.

After graduating with a degree in physical education in 1985, Anna stayed in Halifax to train and was an assistant coach with the Tigers for two years before heading to Europe to play professional basketball. She joined the German Bundesliga league in 1986 and had 15 solid seasons with Rentrop Bonn before retiring in 2003, serving as both player and coach her last six seasons. An integral part of the team, Anna helped lead them to three division championships as well as a national silver in 2002 and a bronze in 2003. Towards the end of her career with Rentrop, she was averaging 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

“Anna was a very quiet hard-working athlete when we first met,” says former national team coach Wayne Hussey. “She focused on her conditioning and skills that would allow her to be part of the junior national team and subsequently a long term national team player and co-captain. As her coach I appreciated her efforts, her honesty, and more importantly over time, her friendship. It was nice to see her develop into a very good international basketball player, a great university player and an even better person.”

“I must point out that Anna had a real thirst for knowledge,” adds Hussey. “Sometimes she had too many probing questions that made me wonder if she really wanted to know the answer, or if she was she just testing me. It was always interesting coaching Anna, never a dull moment.”