Internationally Known

by Aaron Vaccariello Father-son competition is special. A case of, ‘anything you can do I can do better’ is a unique kind of relationship within a family. However in this case, competition isn’t between father and son, it’s between basketball and hoop, and the efforts to restore a nation back to it’s former success. When Leo Rautins played for Team Canada the country was at an elite level internationally. He’s always known Canada belongs at the top, and when he was hired on as head coach of the men’s senior team in 2005 he got the opportunity to prove it. This past summer, all four of Canada’s basketball teams qualified for next year’s Olympic summer games in Beijing. Only four other countries in the world accomplished the same feat (Argentina, U.S.A., Australia and Spain). Part of it had to do with Rautins and his perseverance to bring Canada and his men’s squad back into the global spotlight. “In 2007 we set two goals. Try to get to the wildcard qualifier (for the Olympics). We di...