BASKETBALL AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCE 20 PLAYER CHEMIST WAREHOUSE AUSTRALIAN OPALS WORLD CUP SQUAD FOR SELECTION CAMP
The selection camp will take place from the 10th – 17th of August at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport, with only the athletes that are currently in Australia required to attend.
A 12-player squad will be picked to travel to Spain for the FIBA Women’s World Cup to be held 22nd -30th of September 2018 in Tenerife, Spain, resulting from the selection camp.
The squad includes WNBA stars Liz Cambage, Leilani Mitchell, Sami Whitcomb, Cayla George and Rebecca Allen who are unable to attend the camp due to their WNBA commitments.
The Chemist Warehouse Opals recently returned from China where they competed in a Four Nations Tournament with Argentina, China and Serbia in what was a warm-up tournament for the World Cup, finishing the tournament with an impressive 5-1 record.
A number of younger players have been included in the selection squad including Alanna Smith, Ezi Magbegor and Tahlia Tupaea. Smith, who is currently attending Stanford University, was highly impressive for the Chemist Warehouse Opals in last year’s FIBA Asia Cup.
Unfortunately, injury status has ruled out Marianna Tolo, Sara Blicavs and Kristy Wallace.
General Manager of High Performance Jan Stirling offered, “Head Coach Sandy Brondello will be utilizing the advanced technologies at the AIS”.
“Recently this elite basketball training facility has been described as the best in the world”
“The camp will include live-streaming of all training sessions with instantaneous video feedback to athletes, will create an amazing environment”.
Head Coach Sandy Brondello also shared her excitement for the camp, which she will monitor remotely due to WNBA coaching commitments.
“The coaching staff is excited to be adding Alex Bunton and Alanna Smith to our World Cup Squad along with the players that played on the China tour”.
The camp will serve as a selection process for the team, with Coach Brondello needing to select one of three naturalised players in Leilani Mitchell, Kelsey Griffin and Sami Whitcomb.
“After a successful 6 game tour of China, we enter the last Chemist Warehouse Opals camp before the World Cup team will be selected” said Brondello.
“With the World Cup less than two months away, every training session is vital in order to be in our best shape and improve on areas at both ends of the floor. The coaches have highlighted a number of things to work on from the China tour and this selection camp gives us a great opportunity to do so”.
CHEMIST WAREHOUSE AUSTRALIAN OPALS WORLD CUP SQUAD SELECTION CAMP
| Tessa Lavey | Jayco Dandenong Rangers |
| Lauren Mansfield | Perth Lynx |
| Jenna O’Hea | Deakin Melbourne Boomers |
| Katie-Rae Ebzery | Perth Lynx |
| Stephanie Blicavs | Adelaide Lightning |
| Darcee Garbin | JCU Townsville Fire |
| Cayla George | Deakin Melbourne Boomers / Dallas Wings |
| Alice Kunek | Tarbes Gespe Bigorre |
| Kelsey Griffin | University of Canberra Capitals (subject to injury clearance) |
| Alanna Smith | Stanford University |
| Tahlia Tupaea | Brydens Sydney Uni Flames |
| Nicole Seekamp | Adelaide Lightning |
| Ezi Magbegor | Deakin Melbourne Boomers |
| Stephanie Talbot | Deakin Melbourne Boomers |
| Tess Madgen | JCU Townsville Fire |
| Rebecca Allen | New York Liberty |
| Sami Whitcomb | Seattle Storm |
| Leilani Mitchell | University of Canberra Capitals / Phoenix Mercury |
| Liz Cambage | Dallas Wings |
| Alex Bunton | Brydens Sydney Uni Flames |
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Coaching Staff |
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| Sandy Brondello (Head Coach) | Phoenix Mercery |
| Cheryl Chambers (Assistant Coach) | Brydens Sydney Uni Flames |
| Paul Goriss (Assistant Coach) | University of Canberra Capitals |
| Chris Lucas (Assistant Coach) | Adelaide Lightning |
Basketball Australia
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