CROCS AND SAPPHIRES NAME SQUADS AHEAD OF FIBA UNDER-17 WORLD CUP

The Crocs will head into camp at the Centre of Excellence this weekend and will train alongside the Under-19 Emus who are getting ready for the Under-18 Asian Championships in August.

The three-day camp will see 19 players from six states vying to make the Crocs team ahead of the FIBA Under-17 World Cup which will be held in Argentina from June 30-July 8.

Every squad member recently competed at the Under-18 Australian Championships including the Western Australian trio of Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Luke Travers and Luke Jackson that took home the gold medal, silver medalists Blake Jones and Kian Dennis from Queensland and Victorian bronze medalists Joel Capetola, Joshua Bannan, Will Tattersall, Kobe Williamson and Paul Tsapatolis.

In addition, the 12 players from the Crocs team that won gold at the Under-16 Asian Championships last month, which qualified them for the Under-17 World Cup, will be in attendance at the camp as well.

Australia have a strong history at the Under-17 World Cup, claiming silver medals in 2012 and 2014 while this year, they will take on the Dominican Republic, Turkey and Puerto Rico in the group stage.

The Australian Crocs Camp Squad ahead of the FIBA Under-17 World Cup:

NAME	STATE
Taran Armstrong	Tasmania
Joshua Bannan	Victoria
Lachlan Bofinger	New South Wales
Joel Capetola	Victoria
Hunter Clarke	Tasmania
Kian Dennis	Queensland
Campbell Green	New South Wales
Liam Herbert	Victoria
Hunter Jack-Madden	New South Wales
Luke Jackson	Western Australia
Blake Jones	Queensland
Hayden Meakes	South Australia
Jay Rantall	Victoria
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk	Western Australia
Will Tattersall	Victoria
Luke Travers	Western Australia
Paul Tsapatolis	Victoria
Tamuri Wigness	Queensland
Kobe Williamson	Victoria

The Sapphires will head into camp the week after the Crocs, from May 12-14, but are expected to have another camp before making their final selection for the Under-17 Women’s World Cup which will be held in Belarus from July 21-29.

Qualifying for the World Cup by winning the gold medal at the Under-16 Asian Championships where they finished with an average winning margin of 36 points, 11 members of that team will be back and six states are represented overall.

There are also five players from the victorious Victorian team at the Under-18 national Championships including Isobel Anstey, Lily Scanlon, Eliza Hollingsworth, Gemma Potter and Jayde Cadee (cousin of Boomer Jason Cadee).

Four South Australians in Gabby Vidmar, Ruby Porter, Kelsey Rees and Hannah Hank won the silver medal while Jade Melbourne, Georgia Amoore, Agnes Emma-Nnopu and Olivia Pollerd claimed the bronze.

The Sapphires will be aiming to defend the team’s inaugural gold medal from two years ago in July when they also defeated the USA for their first ever loss in the tournament’s history.

While it is their only medal at the Under-17 World Cup, Australia owns an overall record of 22-7 since the competition began in 2010.

This year, the Sapphires who are ranked 7th in the world, will take on Angola (ranked 34th), Latvia (24th) and Canada (4th) in the group stage.

The Australian Sapphires Camp Squad ahead of the FIBA Under-17 World Cup:

NAME	STATE
Georgia Amoore	Victoria
Isobel Anstey	Victoria
Jayde Cadee	Victoria
Suzi-Rose Deegan	Western Australia
Agnes Emma-Nnopu	Victoria
Alexandra Fowler	Queensland
Adelaide Fuller	Queensland
Hannah Hank	South Australia
Ashlee Hannan	Queensland
Shyla Heal	New South Wales
Catriona Henderson	New South Wales
Eliza Hollingsworth	Victoria
Jade Melbourne	Victoria
Isabel Palmer	New South Wales
Olivia Pollerd	Victoria
Ruby Porter	South Australia
Gemma Potter	Victoria
Shelby Rayner	Tasmania
Kelsey Rees	South Australia
Lily Scanlon	Victoria
Gabby Vidmar	South Australia

The Australian Crocs and Sapphires have named squads for their respective camps as they continue their preparations for the FIBA Under-17 World Cup.