Team Behind the Team: Meet Lizanne Murphy, two-time Olympian in basketball & Director of Sport System and Athlete Relations at the COC 

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is proud to put athletes at the heart of everything it does. At all levels of our organization, from our Board of Directors to our interns, our team is composed of people who truly believe in the power of sport – including an impressive group of Olympians, Paralympians, Pan American Games athletes, former national team athletes, rec league athletes, and passionate sport lovers. In this series, we’ll share stories from members of our team who have competed at major multi-sport Games and who are now dedicating their professional lives to helping the next generation of Team Canada athletes live their dreams.

Lizanne Murphy is a two-time Olympian who competed at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games in basketball. She is in the Hofstra University Hall of Fame. From 2005 to 2016, Murphy was instrumental in the resurgence of the women’s national basketball team, helping Canada become one of the best in the world. She was spotted at an open try out by the Team Canada coach, and made the senior national team that would go to the Olympics.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

What has sport meant to you and to your life?

I’m somebody who gets emotional pretty quickly so I don’t say it lightly when I say that sport saved my life. It really did. I come from an amazing family who believed in the importance of sport. My father who is now legally blind was a basketball player, and my mom grew up wishing to take part in sport, but never really having the chance. My parents had three kids. We were all going to be quite tall, all of us now over six feet, and my  mom’s dream was for us to grow up feeling comfortable in our bodies. Both my parents knew they wanted sport to be a part of family life, and pretty quickly had all three kids enrolled in almost all of the sports offered in our city. My dad put up a basketball net in our front yard off the driveway, we played soccer in the back, and did gymnastics all over the house. All of that helped me become one of the best shooters in Canada.

I had an amazing experience at Hofstra University in the NCAA, one that helped me get to the Olympic stage, but it was also very intense and for many reasons unhealthy. When I started playing for Team Canada, I found an environment where I could be myself and pursue excellence with an incredible group of people. I’m someone who brings the energy.  I have an intensity about me and that got me into trouble at times. I was hot and cold, wore my heart on my sleeve and didn’t really know how to foster that. When I got to the national team, I was suddenly celebrated for that same energy, for being the heart and soul and leader of the team. That’s why I say sport saved my life, because I went from this place of total self doubt and unhealthy training methods to realizing I have something the world needs, and a shared common goal to grow women’s basketball in Canada.

You had a long successful career on the national team and played professionally in many countries including as a star in France.  What led you to the COC?

I was ready to go back to France when I got a random e-mail in 2017 asking me if I wanted to be part of the Canada C3 expedition, part of the Canada 150 project.  It was a retired icebreaker ship that sailed around Canada’s three coasts all the way to Victoria in 150 days. I was invited as an athlete. On the ship we had teachers, parents, scientists, Indigenous leaders, and really promising youth doing cool things in their schools. It was a life-changing experience to increase understanding  about reconciliation, community and protection of the environment. In my time from PEI to Newfoundland, we visited First Nations communities, protected parks and learned a lot about the environment on Canada’s East Coast. I hadn’t learned about residential schools before that trip because it wasn’t something we were taught in school.  One of my good friends on the ship was  Marie Wilson, who was one of the three commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  When we visited those communities, I instantly connected to people there because of basketball and many people’s shared love of the game. While off the coast on the Atlantic Ocean, I actually called my agent and said I wasn’t going back to France. It was on that ship I realized there’s more to life and that while basketball has been incredible to me, my heart wasn’t in it to keep performing at the highest level. I’m someone that wants to have an impact. It is maybe the thing that has defined everything I do. I wanted to be back in Canada and to make a difference here.

I was also part of the RBC Olympians program at that time, which connected me to 200 schools in Quebec and around Canada.  I went around getting kids to try basketball and got them to believe in themselves.  I found that work so fulfilling.  It was through one of my RBC Olympians events that I ran into my Game Plan advisor, helping me with my transition out of sport.  She connected me to Eric Myles, Chief of Sport at the COC, and they both said now that you’re home, you should work in sport. We have some jobs available, you should apply. I wasn’t sure, but felt like this was a sign and something I had to explore and that led me here.

Tell us about your role?

I’ve been very fortunate to be promoted through the ranks four times.  I’m now Director of Sports System and Athlete Relations.  It’s part of the System Excellence team within the Sport Department at the Canadian Olympic Committee. We work with National Sport Organizations on improving things like their governance, safe sport, their athlete relations and how the athlete voice is showing up in their organizations.  We also assist them with the pipeline of their leadership, plus their diversity, equity and inclusion.  Since 2013, the COC has invested more than $40 million to help NSOs on these important initiatives.

What did you learn from your basketball career that you bring into your role today, especially with respect to resources, with National Sport Organizations currently facing dire straits and asking for increased federal funding?

My basketball experience taught me a lot.  Winning the gold medal at the Pan American games in Toronto in 2015 was pretty cool. We beat the US for the first time. Looking back at my career, the thing that I’m most proud of is everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve strived to leave it in a better place than when I found it. When I joined the national team in 2005, we were not doing well.  We hadn’t been to an Olympics in years.  There was very little funding.  Our staff had to get very creative to find training opportunities and people to help us get to the world class stage we all believed we belonged on. With very little resourcing, our group fought and qualified for the London 2012 Olympics. When I finished my career, we were fifth in the world and the sport now has increased resources after many challenging years.

This story of under-resourcing is unfortunately very common in sports. I can tell you that national sport organizations are not exaggerating when they say they are struggling.  The budget for these organizations has not gone up in a number of years, even to keep up with inflation.  I think the thing that makes me pretty good at my job is that I have seen it from both a have and have not sport lens. I went from being part of the really hard stuff that happens to sports that have financial constraints to then qualifying for the Olympics and being part of a sport that’s more adequately resourced.  I very quickly learned the realities that national sport organization leaders are facing. In a sports system that is under-resourced, it is impossible to succeed everywhere.  Some organizations are having to make very difficult decisions daily about their staffing, competition schedules or development in order to keep the lights on.

We’re seeing a new era for women’s basketball, hockey and other professional sports.  How do you feel witnessing that now and what still remains to be seen on that front?

I’m not surprised and SO happy. We all know the value and quality of women’s sports and this is a moment in time that will be pivotal for generations to come here in Canada.  When I played professionally in France, we had a sold out arena for almost every game. I feel like it’s about time we have these leagues in Canada as well where women can build incredible legacies right here on home soil. And for that, I am so happy to have transitioned to a fan and parent supporting and taking it all in from the sidelines.