Anna Pendergast-Stammberger inducted into Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame

On Aug. 20, Anna Pendergast-Stammberger was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, putting an exclamation mark on an incredible career as a player and a coach.

Pendergast-Stammberger, a Kensington, P.E.I., native, had an illustrious career. She played five seasons for the Dalhousie University Tigers basketball team, spent 10 years on the Canadian women’s national team, and played 18 years in Germany in the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, where she spent time both as a player and coach.

She finished by returning to her roots, coaching the Tigers’ women’s team for her final 12 years on the sidelines.

“[The school was] just a huge impact on my life. I can hardly find the words for it,” said Pendergast-Stammberger. “Dalhousie is very important to me.”

Despite her lack of technical basketball knowledge, Pendergast-Stammberger proved to be a scholar of the game.

Carol Rosenthall played with Pendergast-Stammberger for the last few years of her collegiate career.

“As a teammate, she was probably the hardest worker, loyal to the team and driven,” says Rosenthall. “Her trajectory was unparalleled by anyone that I’ve ever been around.”

As Pendergast-Stammberger put in the work, her name was put forth for the Canadian national team.

“I had no intention or false hopes of making the national team,” says Pendergast-Stammberger. “I went there to learn because my thing was always to get better. I wanted to improve.”

At the tryouts, her grit and determination differentiated her from other players and caught the attention of Don McCrae, the head coach. Pendergast-Stammberger says:

“[McCrae] said the first two days he didn’t really notice me. I didn’t stand out. Then on the third day when everyone else was tired or on the sidelines nursing a little injury here or there, he noticed me as a big, strong, fit player who had a good motor,” she says. “He named me as one of the alternates, which just blew me away.”

Pendergast-Stammberger was granted the opportunity to compete at the 1984 Olympics, becoming the first woman from Prince Edward Island to do so.

“I failed my way to the Olympics,” says Pendergast-Stammberger. “I didn’t make the provincial team. I didn’t make the Canadian junior National team when I tried out. 

“Everybody said I wasn’t going to make the Dalhousie team. People were always saying that I wasn’t good enough, but I always persevered and pulled through with my competitive spirit.”

That competitive spirit served her well in her career, as she found herself competing all over the world, ultimately landing in Germany. 

Her son Sven Stammberger was born there and had the opportunity to watch her compete for the Bundesliga team, BG Rentrop Bonn.

“The biggest memory I have is watching her games and watching her being the player and coach for a top division pro team in Germany,” says Stammberger. 

“To me it was just normal as it was her job, but looking back at it it’s pretty cool.”