Born and raised in Yorkton, Maria-Leena Clarke has been hired by Canada Basketball.
A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Clarke has returned from 15 years in Europe to become the Director of Marketing and Partnerships with Canada Basketball.
"We are very excited to have a marketing executive of Maria-Leena's calibre and experience join our team," said Wayne Parrish, President/CEO at Canada Basketball.
"Parallel to the tremendous growth and development we've been experiencing on the court, Canada Basketball has been steadily improving on the business side. We've been successful in establishing relationships with three major sponsors - Maple Leafs Spots + Entertainment, Bell Canada and Nike - and have also been able to bring TSN on board to broadcast the major FIBA championships."
Parrish said the challenge now for Canada Basketball is to deepen each of those relationships in a way that provides superior value to its current partners and other new ones that we hope to attract in the coming months.
"I can't think of an individual with a better skill set and background to lead that effort than our new director," he said.
Maria-Leena, her husband Thomas, and their two children (Samuel, 6, and Eva-Leena, 4) have moved to Toronto from France.
Directly after university she moved to London, England to begin a career at Walt Disney Television, before moving to Paris within the company.
"I began my career in the sports industry in 2000 when I joined Eurosport to promote the launch of eurosport.com and held various communication and marketing positions," she explained.
"However, my main focus has always been the promotion of Olympic sports."
Greg Lucas, Executive Director of Basketball Saskatchewan, said the Provincial Sports Organization is proud to continue the rich heritage of helping growing the sport across Canada.
"Saskatchewan is recognized as a basketball leader in Canada with our developmental programs, administrators, coaches and players," he said.
"Maria-Leena Clarke's addition to Canada Basketball continues that proud tradition."
"I'm very excited to return to Canada and look forward to joining Canada Basketball during what I hope will be a period of dynamic growth," Clarke said.
