The Toronto Tempo have a Hall of Fame coach on their hands.
Head coach Sandy Brondello is set to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as part of its class of 2026, the team announced Tuesday.
“This is the biggest honour of my career. I’ve been fortunate to experience some incredible moments in basketball, but to be recognized by the Australian sporting community, alongside athletes I admire, is something I never imagined,” Brondello said in a statement put out by the team. “I’m so proud to be Australian, and so grateful to my family and everyone who has been a part of this journey with me.”
Brondello is set to be inducted for her accomplishments as an athlete, playing for both the Australian national team and in the early days of the WNBA.
She laced up for Australia 302 times, helping the team reach four Olympic Games and four world championships. Brondello helped Australia win three Olympic medals, including the program's first podium finish at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when the country won bronze. She also won silver in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.
Beyond her international career, Brondello played several seasons in Europe before joining the WNBA in 1998 with the Detroit Shock. She was named an all-star in 1999.
The 58-year-old from Mackay, Australia, was head coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty for four seasons before coaching Toronto to an 11-33 record in its expansion year.
After retiring from playing in 2004, Brondello coached Australia's women to silver at the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, bronze at the 2022 World Cup and Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024.
Other athletes going in this class are Canadian-born moguls Olympic champ Dale Begg-Smith, tennis player Dylan Alcott, eight-time Australian Ironman champion Shannon Eckstein, four-time World Cup-winning cricketer Lisa Sthalekar and four-time Olympic softball medallist Natalie Ward. Field hockey coach Barry Dancer also is entering the hall.
Brondello had already been inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2010.
-- With files from the Canadian Press