NEWS: Rose-Anne Joly jumps at opportunity to work with NBA Basketball School in Dubai

Gee-Gees women's basketball lead assistant coach Rose-Anne Joly has moved on from her role with the team to take an exciting new opportunity growing the game on the other side of the world. 

Joly will serve as a NBA Basketball School Coach and Operations Coordinator for the school in Dubai. At the school, she will work with basketball players between the ages of 8-18 with the goal of developing the next generation of talent in the classroom and on the court.

"The opportunity is unbelievable," said Joly. "This is not an something that shows up every day. I get to do something I'm very passionate about, so I'm excited to see where it takes me."

After spending the past four years with the Gee-Gees initially as a volunteer coach and then as the full-time lead assistant coach, Joly has risen quickly in the basketball world. 

A native of Gatineau, Que., Joly played one season for the Gee-Gees in 2009-10. After knee injuries cut her playing career short, Joly focused more heavily on coaching, gaining experience at the high school level, in CÉGEP, and with the Quebec provincial team leading to her return to uOttawa.

Off the court, Joly is the President and founder of Basket Plus, a non-profit which offers varsity sport teams the opportunity to be involved in the community whether locally, nationally or internationally. In 2018, Joly led the effort building an outdoor basketball court in Togo, and in 2019, a Sports Complex in Haiti, all with the help of the Gee-Gees women's basketball program. 

In her new role, Joly once again has the opportunity to tie her passions together in both coaching and growing the game globally.

"It brings the two worlds I love together in community and basketball," she said. "I'm seeing this as a new path and I'm starting off at the beginning of the ladder. I'm excited to see how I can grow."

With this new opportunity, it gives Joly the chance to join the NBA family, entering the network of the NBA, WNBA, G League, and their basketball development efforts across the world.

"I've been working these past two years on making connections and staying in touch with the Raptors and the Raptors 905," said Joly, who was a finalist for the Raptors' Wayne Embry Fellowship in 2019.

"I've been trying to find ways to be involved as much as could," she said. "I've put a lot of energy into it and I didn't know what the outcome was going to be, but to know that this is happening now, it feels great."