East Preston basketball player Shay Colley injured in Olympic debut

It wasn't the kind of night Shay Colley was hoping for when she and her Canadian teammates stepped onto the court for their first game of the women's basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.

Canada lost a hard-fought game to Serbia 72-68 and Colley, who grew up in East Preston, N.S., was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

But the good news for Colley, who scored 12 points in the game before she was hurt in the second half of the contest, isthe injury does not appear to be serious. That means she should be back on the court for Canada's second game of the Olympics, a Wednesday matchup against South Korea.

While Colley is representing her home province in Japan, her cousin and close friend Daneesha Provo, from North Preston, N.S.,is not there with her.

Provo, who played college basketball at the University of Utah, ruptured an Achilles tendon during the national team training camp in Florida in June. Provo returned home to Nova Scotia and underwent surgery.

"My goal right now is to just come back healthier and hopefully play in the world championships in Australia in 2022," she said.

Provo played professionally in Germany last year, although she will not be able to play during the upcoming winter season due to the lengthy recovery needed for her injury. But she's not giving up on her Olympic dream.

"It's a dream I've always had and it sucks that it was cut short this summer with me not being able to be there," said Provo. "I'm just going to attack each day with the mindset of getting to the Olympics in 2024."

North Preston basketball star Daneesha Provo recovering from Achilles tendon surgery

3 years ago

Duration 1:45

Provo's dreams of representing Canada on the senior women's national basketball team at the Olympics were dashed following an injury. She's now recovering in Dartmouth from Achilles tendon surgery and her future looks bright.

Provo was part of a big crowd that went to the North Preston Community Centre on Monday night to watch Colley playing for Canada on a big screen.

She's been staying in touch with her cousin while she's in Japan.

"I'm just trying to do whatever I can to support the team and to support Shay," said Provo. "The watch party kind of brought some joy to me because she's still out there killing it."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.