TORONTO —

Given all of the press trumpeting the rise of Canada’s men’s basketball program, you might have missed the fact that our women have been far more successful for, oh, a solid decade now.

Recently, the women have been where the senior men still want to go — they rank No. 10 in the world, while the men are 25th — they played at the 2012 Olympics (the men haven’t competed at an Olympics since 2000), finished fifth at the worlds last summer (the men have never been that high and last made the top 10 in 1994, at Toronto), and have a silver and two bronze medals to show for the previous three FIBA Americas tournament, while the men were fourth in 2009 and sixth in both 2011 and 2013.

They aren’t jealous that the men have commanded the vast majority of recognition. “No, because we’re all on the same team,” Guelph native Natalie Achonwa, the WNBA reigning rookie of the month, said Sunday when the team gathered at the ACC for its first practice in Toronto.

“At the end of the day, we’re not fighting for attention ... we’re the one-team mentality across the board in all sports. We’re going to still represent them, we’re still going to celebrate them just the same way they’ll celebrate us.”

And this group believes they have what it takes to be celebrated.

As usual, the U.S. will be the squad to beat, but of the other participants, only Brazil is ranked higher (Cuba and Argentina slot in a few spots behind Canada).

Veteran Kim Gaucher, who has seen the highs and the lows over the years, expects the Pan Am Games and next month’s FIBA Americas tourney in Edmonton to be massive and memorable events.

“I think that this summer is going to be our summer, that we’re going to see a huge spike (in interest),” said Gaucher, of Mission B.C., who is perennially one of Canada’s top scorers.

“This summer, we’re here, we’re in Canada ... the men with all of their draft picks has kind of put a spotlight on us and we’re going to take that spotlight and show some people what we’re about on the women’s side as well.”

The team boasts an intriguing mix of “old heads” that are 30-plus like Gaucher, Lizanne Murphy, Shona Thorburn and Tamara Tatham and youngsters like Kia Nurse (19), Nirra Fields (22), Achonwa and Michelle and Katherine Plouffe (23) and others somewhere in between.

The younger players are excited about the opportunity that awaits them, having two shots at playing at home, but the veterans truly understand what this will mean.

“Yeah, it is a rarity, this is my 15th summer and I haven’t had one (a big tournament at home) yet, so it’s huge,” Gaucher said. “We’re really looking forward to it, we just got in yesterday, we went to visit the flame today and people were clapping and cheering. It’s amazing how much the city has embraced it.”

Added London’s Miranda Ayim: “Most of us haven’t played at home since probably high school, which is 15-ish years ago maybe? So it’s exciting to play at home,” she said. “We’ve been anticipating the fans and the support and we’re looking forward to playing in front of everybody.”

“It’s a huge deal,” said head coach Lisa Thomaidis. “None of these women have played in a meaningful game in Canada in their careers. So to get this opportunity to showcase our team, our program, these wonderful women who have dedicated the better part of their lives for this program, (it’s) a great chance for them to be on home soil, play in front of their friends and family.”

The first chance comes Thursday, with a game against Venezuela.