The Edmonton Stingers Welcome Steve Sir as Director of Basketball Development

"This is a truly exciting day for the Edmonton Stingers Basketball Club, we are thrilled to welcome Steve Sir back to our Front Office," said Stingers President, Brett Fraser. "We needed a home-grown perspective on how to bridge our Basketball Operations and the deep roots of our basketball community as we grow globally as a Club and a League. Steve’s contributions to basketball, as a member of Team Canada, and as an active leader in Edmonton’s basketball community are invaluable. He is a smart, driven, competitive and determined executive, as demonstrated both over his playing and management careers. I believe we took a strong management team and made it even stronger today."  

The former Northern Arizona Lumberjacks alum is the all-time NCAA leader in career three-point percentage (46.9%). While he is now retired from the five-on-five version of the game, he is the current captain of the 3x3 Canadian National Team. This team features Stingers Power Forward Jordan Baker and is ranked No. 8 in the world. In May, Sir will take part in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics qualifying tournament in Graz, Austria with a chance to represent Canada at the Olympic Games next summer.

Sir is deeply connected to the game of basketball at all levels. His experience playing professionally as well as being a part of the 3x3 Canadian National Team is a great benefit to the organization. He has a strong understanding of what it will take to build the Stingers into an organization that both Edmonton and Alberta can be proud of. “This is a side of basketball that I was able to get a taste of when I was still playing professionally in Europe, and I helped assemble the Stingers in the inaugural season, and it’s something that I’m really passionate about,” said Sir.  

As part of this role, Sir will be actively involved in community development and oversee the creation of a Stingers Academy to improve regional talent on and off the court. 

“The popularity of the game of basketball is growing. It’s on the rise, and my hope is that it continues to grow in that direction,” said Sir. “We want the Stingers to play an integral role of building the game at the grassroots level. We want to help contribute to playing at a higher level. We want the Stingers to be a team that players dream of playing for one day.”

“The Edmonton Stingers are the reigning CEBL Champions for 2020. We are only building on this accomplishment and Steve is going to be a key piece of this” said Fraser.  

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 80% of its current rosters being Canadians. Players come from the NBA G-League, top international leagues, the Canadian National Team program, and top NCAA programs as well as from U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. More information is available at www.cebl.ca