2007 Women's Nat Team Coaches Announced

(Toronto) Canada Basketball announced today the coaching staff for each of the four women’s national teams competing in 2007.  Canada will field a Senior Women’s National Team, competing in the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifier and Pan Am Games, a Development Women’s National Team, competing in the 2007 FISU Games, and a Young Women’s National Team, competing in the 2007 U21 World Championships, a Junior Women’s National Team, competing in the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Allison
McNeill enters her 6^th year as Head Coach of the Senior Women’s
Team, having led the team to a bronze medal at the 2005 FIBA Americas World
Championship Qualifier, qualifying for the 2006 World Championships for the
first time in 12 years. The Senior Women’s National Team finished 10^th
at the World Championships. Coach McNeill will
be again be assisted by Lisa Thomaidis and Mike
McNeill, who have been assistants with the senior program since 2002.  This coaching team will be looking to qualify
for the 2008 Olympics at the FIBA Americas Qualifier in Valdivia, Chile
in September 25-29,2007. 

 

The
Development Women’s National Team coaching staff will be led by Head Coach Dave
Wilson.  Wilson has been appointed to his first head
coaching duties with the women’s national team program after successfully
serving as an assistant for five years with each of the senior, young and
junior national teams since 2001.  Wilson is in his 25^th
year as head coach of Queen’s University. 
Wilson
will be assisted on this staff by Donna Branch who helped qualify the 2006 U20
Team to the 2007 U21 World Championships. 
Branch is a former junior national team athlete and currently the head
coach at the University
of Lethbridge.

 

Linda Marquis
will continue as the head coach of the Young Women’s National Team with Deb
Huband as an assistant after finishing 3^rd at the 2006 U20 FIBA
Americas Qualifier.  This qualified the
team to a U21 World Championships for the first time in the program’s
history.  Marquis is the head coach at Laval University
and is going into her 10^th year with the women’s national team
program while Huband is in her 6^th year.  Huband was a ten year national team member
and is in her 12^th year as head coach at the University of British
Columbia. 
Both Marquis and Huband assisted the senior team at the 1999 Pan Am
Games and 2000 Olympics.  They will be
joined by assistant Angie McLeod who helped qualify the 2006 Junior Women’s
National Team to a U19 World Championship and is the head coach at Acadia University. 

 

Christine
Stapleton will head the coaching staff for the Junior Women’s National Team as
they compete at the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship.  Stapleton,
Canada
Basketball’s National Elite Development Academy Head Coach, led the 2006 Junior
Women to a silver medal and qualified to the U19 FIBA WC for the second time in
four years.

 

Returning to
the Junior Women’s National Team, Rich Chambers will be rejoining Stapleton on
the coaching staff and looking to improve on the 2005 U19 World Championship 9^th
place finish.  Chambers has 35 years
coaching experience and has been the NIKE Centre
for Performance-British Columbia head coach since 2002, and is in his first
year as a full-time assistant coach at the University of British
Columbia.

 

“We are very
pleased to have assembled experienced and strong coaching teams to lead each of
our women’s national teams in 2007.  The
extensive international experience and sound knowledge of the women’s national
team style of play will help maximize the performance of our athletes as we
undertake the challenge of world level competition and qualifying for the 2008
Olympics,” said Denise Dignard, Manager – Women’s Elite Performance.

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Contact:

Denise Dignard

Manager –
Women’s Elite Performance                                                              

Canada Basketball                                                        

Tel:  416.614.8037 x 204

email: ddignard@basketball.ca