Growing Up

Steve John Nash was born on February 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Jean and John Nash. He also had a younger brother named Martin.Steve’s father was a professional soccer player, so his family moved around a lot. Near the end of his father ’s career, Steve and his family settled in Canada. They lived in Regina before moving to Victoria City.

Growing Up(continued)

• As a kid, Steve Nash began to like hockey. He idolized Wayne Gretzky.

• He was also a gifted soccer player. • He always dreamed of being a professional

athlete.• He played on his first organized basketball

team in 8th grade. That’s when he decided he wanted to be a basketball player.

Still Growing

• Steve attended St. Michael’s University School. As a junior at St. Michael’s, he was British Colombia’s MVP, or most valuable player, in soccer.

• Steve Nash was also dominant in basketball in his high school league. In his senior year, he averaged 21.3ppg(points per game) 9.1rpg(rebounds per game) and 11.2apg(assists per game). Steve had high hopes of going to Santa Clara University.

College

• Santa Clara’s head coach, Dick Davey, flew out to watch Steve Nash play in the AAA basketball championship. He was amazed by Steve’s performance, and Steve arrived at Santa Clara in the fall of 1992.

• Steve led the Santa Clara Broncos to a 9-5 record, the best record in six years.

College (continued)

• Steve Nash led Santa Clara to win the WCC tournament in his freshman year.

• He became the first freshman in WCC history to win the MVP award.