{"id":8566,"date":"2018-02-01T17:42:54","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T22:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=8566"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:03:36","slug":"ravens-womens-basketball-surge","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/ravens-womens-basketball-surge\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Women Surge on the Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Women Surge on the Court\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Heading into their game against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at the 12th annual Capital Hoops Classic<\/a> at the Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 2, the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s basketball<\/a> team had won 36 straight regular season contests, one victory shy of the provincial record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on Jan. 31 at the Ottawa Sports Awards<\/a> gala, Head Coach Taffe Charles<\/a> received the city\u2019s Male Coach of the Year award. His team won bronze at the 2016-\u201817 national championships, the best finish ever for the women\u2019s basketball program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those accomplishments are inextricably connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Head Coach Taffe Charles receives the city\u2019s Male Coach of the Year award<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The men\u2019s basketball team<\/a> at Carleton \u2014 winners of seven straight national titles and 13 of 15 championships dating back to 2003, and capable of beating highly ranked American schools in exhibition games \u2014 is one of the most remarkable university sports dynasties in North America and generally gets the most attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the surging women\u2019s program, under the leadership of Charles, a former Ravens star, is increasingly in the spotlight. That speaks to a culture of basketball excellence at Carleton where both teams have a good shot at the U SPORT title in the same year, a feat that hasn\u2019t been repeated since both University of Victoria teams won basketball championships in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m honoured to receive this award, but am even more honoured to have the opportunity to coach such a great team,\u201d says Charles, who is in his 11th<\/sup> season as the women\u2019s head coach after serving as an assistant with both programs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, success means seeing these young women thrive as athletes, as students and as citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one athlete or coach is bigger than the team,\u201d he continues. \u201cThat\u2019s what our culture is, and we believe that mental toughness, resilience and perseverance are a big part of that. When you\u2019re constantly dealing with adversity, with other teams gearing up to take you down, you need to have a certain level of competitiveness. And, as a coach, you need to be demanding to help athletes understand what needs to be done to be the best they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

A No-Nonsense Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Charles, who was born and raised in Ottawa, was an intense and passionate player for the Ravens from 1990 to 1995, racking up 2,437 points, the third highest total in Carleton history. He was named an Ontario all-star three times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His no-nonsense approach<\/a> as a player also defines his coaching style.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cPeople ask me: \u2018What\u2019s the difference between coaching women and coaching men?\u2019\u201d says Charles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cMy expectations are high, and I\u2019ve always treated the players I coach as competitive athletes who want to do well. There\u2019s no gender difference in the intensity or toughness you need to have to play basketball at a level that\u2019ll take you to a national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Jenjen Abella<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charles says he recognizes the barriers that women face in all facets of life and hopes his two young daughters and the women on his team will inherit a world where more positive changes have taken effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the biggest things I\u2019ve learned over time is that you have to get to know the players you\u2019re dealing with as individuals, and to get to know the best approach to motivation based on their personalities, not their gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen coaches do their job well, players develop an internal motivation and push themselves for themselves, not for their coaches. Coaching these student-athletes to be leaders on the court, in the classroom and then leaders in their communities, is my main motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

A Desire to Succeed in Basketball and Beyond<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton alumnus and former Ravens basketball player Ines Jelic<\/a>, now a civil litigation lawyer in Ottawa, was on the women\u2019s team for Charles\u2019s first three seasons as head coach.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMy experience playing varsity basketball at Carleton helped shape me into who I am today,\u201d says Jelic.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, the biggest thing that stood out about Taffe\u2019s approach was his intensity and his desire for his team to succeed. He knew what the players were capable of, even if we didn\u2019t realize it at the time. He has the ability to get you to see that you\u2019re not performing as well as you can \u2014 he pushed me to get to that point, and not just in basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another ex-Raven and Carleton alumnus, Elizabeth Roach<\/a>, who played for Charles for five seasons, echoes Jelic\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Elizabeth Roach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a really great experience at Carleton, both with my teammates and with the coaching staff,\u201d says Roach, who now works in communications with Public Safety Canada and is an assistant coach with the Algonquin College women\u2019s basketball team after coaching at the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was a lot of hard work, but we did really well, and I\u2019ve taken what I learned into my career and my personal life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Roach didn\u2019t plan to keep playing basketball during her final year of high school, but a friend convinced her to stick with the sport and she decided to keep playing at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really eye-opening, the level of training and dedication,\u201d she says about her rookie season. \u201cTaffe was an intense coach, but in a positive way. I knew he was trying to build the program. For sure, there were expectations and pressure, but that was part of the fun. We wanted to be treated as seriously as players on the men\u2019s team. We worked hard and wanted to be treated like athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving coached myself for a while, I would attribute a large part of the Ravens\u2019 success to Taffe. The work ethic he instilled was amazing. His passion for and knowledge about the sport, the way he runs the team \u2014 it would not be doing as well as it\u2019s doing without him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been coaching for 11 years and the team has been developing year by year,\u201d agrees Jelic. \u201cThat has a lot to do with Taffe, as well as with the women on the current team. They\u2019re mature and are willing to rise to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sustained Success Breeds Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Ravens men\u2019s basketball coach Dave Smart<\/a>, who knows a few things about winning on the basketball court, says that sustained<\/em> success breeds success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One winning season doesn\u2019t attract players to your program, he says. But if you\u2019re able to compete year after year, and if that performance is underpinned by a family atmosphere in which everybody is accountable to one another, whether you\u2019re a coach or a player, you\u2019ll have an opportunity to build something that lasts.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cAs a coach, Taffe cares a lot and is technically very strong,\u201d says Smart, who has been behind the bench for 12 of the last 13 championships and has served as an assistant coach with Canada\u2019s national men\u2019s basketball team.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cTaffe is so dedicated. He is one of the hardest working coaches that I know, at practices, in games, recruiting, reviewing film, everything. He\u2019s also very good at understanding his relationships with his players, and at understanding what buttons to push with each individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Catherine Traer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smart\u2019s intensity as a coach is widely associated with the Ravens men\u2019s basketball success, an approach that appears to have rubbed off on Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely intense and passionate,\u201d says Smart. \u201cI care a lot about the players respecting one another with their effort. It\u2019s the job of a coach to maximize effort. At an elite level, that\u2019s based on your relationship with each player. Nobody should come to Carleton to play basketball if they don\u2019t want to work hard and improve, if they\u2019re not serious about the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were days when Coach Smart was on me, but that was because he trusted me,\u201d says ex-Raven Kaza Kajami-Keane<\/a>, who helped lead the men\u2019s team to their last two championships and is now playing nearly 20 minutes a game with the Raptors 905 NBA G League squad. \u201cIt was tough love sometimes, but I could see the end goal. I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today without him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the fact that both the women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams at Carleton are undefeated this season, they have to focus on their upcoming games, says Smart, not on their ultimate goal.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cFor the players on the team, and for all of the effort they\u2019ve put in, and for all of the women who helped build this program, of course I dream of winning Carleton\u2019s first women\u2019s basketball championship,\u201d says Charles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to be part of a journey that has seen so many people come together as a team. One of my jobs as a coach is trying to keep the players concentrating on the task at hand, and we know it will take a series of steps to get to the championships. But the women on our team have shown they can rise to the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ravens women\u2019s basketball team is surging in 2017 – ’18 with 36 straight regular season wins and the city\u2019s Male Coach of the Year award for Head Coach Taffe Charles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":8582,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-8566","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97867,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8566\/revisions\/97867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=8566"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=8566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}