Tanner Brightman is co-founder of Golden Ticket Sports Inc. Until recently, Tanner resided in Regina, Saskatchewan, but recently moved to Antwerp, Belgium to take on a role as coach and Director of Operations and Partner with Elite Athletes, and Elite Academy  basketball academy. Tanner oversees all operations at Golden Ticket Sports Centre, opened June 2021, in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Planning, managing and directing camps and programming in the facility, Tanner frequently works with all age groups and skill levels. He also oversees all operations related to Best in the West coaching clinics, and all Golden Ticket Sports-produced professional development content. 

Prior to joining founders Joerik Michiels and Olivier Goetgetluck at Elite Athletes in Antwerp, Tanner Brightman was once the youngest provincial team basketball coach in 2011 when he was an apprentice coach with the U14 Western Canada Games Team. He continued to work extensively with Basketball Saskatchewan’s Men’s High-Performance Program, leading teams of ages U14-U17 over the course of eight years. Most notably, Tanner led the Team Saskatchewan U17 Men to the 2017 Canada Summer Games (the 50th anniversary of the event). His preparations, however, began four years prior as he and assistant coach Will Redl (Saskatoon) took the first group of 2017 Canada-Games-eligible athletes (competing in the U15 division) to Canada Basketball Nationals in 2014. Then, in 2015 after another trip with the U15’s to Nationals, Tanner recruited the help of two more assistants; 2013 Canada Games Assistant Coach Trevor Mirtle (Saskatoon), and long-time Saskatoon High School Basketball coach Dave Earl, to work alongside him. In the Fall of 2015, along with his staff, Tanner evaluated and selected the top 20 players in the province that would be of age or younger come the 2017 Summer Games. In these two years, the staff worked closely with the group of athletes to develop them as players, and to introduce tactics and schemes that those selected would run at the tournament. The final U17 Canada Summer Games team would ultimately fall short of their goal to finish on the podium, but the group of athletes compiled a 56-8 record over their four years of working with Brightman and proved that Saskatchewan was not to be overlooked on the national stage. 

In their time together, Tanner quickly realized the benefits of having such a low player to coach ratio and continues to bring on as many assistants as possible with the teams he works with. Says Brightman, “I have always tried to make sure the teams I coached were as democratic as possible: everyone has a voice and is encouraged to speak up… The same applies to my coaching staff; the head coach has final say, but each coach’s input carries the same weight as mine.” He adds that this is all dependent on having “high character individuals” as your assistants, “Just like I did with Davey (Earl), Mirts (Trevor Mirtle) and Bo (Will Redl) on the Canada Summer Games teams.”

Tanner holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Regina (2016) and worked for three years at the historic Luther College High School, one of Canada’s most prestigious private schools.  During his time at Luther, Brightman served as Dean of Men in the men’s dormitories from August 2017 until June 2020, managing the day-to-day living and educational arrangements of nearly one hundred international dorm students. In his role, Tanner was tasked with caring for student’s health, wellness, finances, personal information and academics. As many of the student’s families lived continents and oceans away, Tanner developed and continues to hold close personal relationships with many of the students and their families, something he holds near and dear to his heart. 

In his time at Luther, Tanner also coached the Lions Senior Men’s Basketball team, recording a provincial 5th place finish in 2019. Prior to this, he coached at Balfour Collegiate (2012-2017), where he was part of two city final runner-ups and two provincial fifth-place rankings while leading the Sr. Boys as both assistant and head coach. 

Tanner was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, and attended Balfour Collegiate where he played basketball under Glen Fekula, a legend of the game in Saskatchewan. He grew up with a younger brother, now a recording artist, and an incredibly supportive family. He now resides in both Canada and Belgium with his wife, Jess, and loves to collect shoes, play guitar and travel the world.