This camp, combined with previous and upcoming talent identification efforts, will contribute to the assessment of the overall athlete pool and will help determine the athletes that will be invited back for each of the U17 and U18 women's summer national team program tryouts.
Both U17 and U18 national teams will be competing in FIBA sanctioned championship tournaments this coming summer. The U17 team will be competing in their third consecutive FIBA U17 World Championship for Women, held in Slovakia from June 28th-July 6th. The team qualified after finishing second at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women in Cancun, Mexico this past summer. The tournament includes 16 teams from each of the five zones with players born in 1997 or later. The U18 squad will participate in the U18 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, held in Colorado Springs, Colorado from August 6th-August 10th. The tournament includes teams from eight countries in the Americas zone with players born in 1996 or later.
“We are looking forward to building on the work done in our technical summit and December age-group camp, as we strive for full harmonization and focus on developing winners for the top senior level of our women’s national team program,” said Denise Dignard, Director of Women’s High Performance. “Tremendous growth is achieved on and off the court by our athletes when training against the best in their age-group. During these camps, they also learn valuable lessons on what it takes to be an elite athlete and what they must do in their daily training environment.”The coaches leading this combined age-group camp will consist of both the 2014 U17 and U18 national team coaches, who will be integrating the Canadian style of play into the age group programs.
Carly Clarke (Halifax, NS) will once again be tasked with fulfilling the role of the U17 team head coach. "We are very much looking forward to our March assessment camp. It is great to have a look midway at the progress we have made since December, as well as provide direction for the upcoming World Championships - especially now that we have our draw,” said Clarke.
Joining Clarke for the fourth consecutive season will be assistant coach Andre Desjardins (Ottawa, ON)
from École secondaire publique Louis-Riel and Jodi Gram (Markham, ON) from Bill Crothers Secondary School, who also returns to the team as an assistant coach and performance analyst.
Rounding out the U17 staff will be Carleton University’s head coach Taffe Charles (Ottawa, ON) who will be making his second international coaching appearance. They will be joined by Performance Analyst Megan Wiggins (Regina, SK) who brings valuable expertise in advanced statistical analysis to the staff.
Rich Chambers (Port Moody, BC) returninsonce again at the helm of the U18 team. “I’m super excited to get together with both U17 and U18 aged athletes who are getting ready for the upcoming World Championship and world qualifying tournaments. We had a great start in December and we’re looking to build upon that experience and get everyone in a position to play their best basketball this summer,” Chambers commented.
Chambers will be joined by assistants Scott Edwards (Edmonton, AB) and Scott Reeves (Kamloops, BC). Edwards, who serves as the head coach of the University of Alberta, will be taking part in his fourth stint with the program. Reeves currently serves as head coach of Thompson Rivers University, and will be making his second appearance as a coach with the women’s national team program.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL AGE-GROUP CAMP INVITEES
| Name | Year | Home Town |
| Aislinn Konig | 1998 | Vancouver BC |
| Barbara Johnson | 1996 | Toronto ON |
| Bridget Atkison | 1996 | Welland ON |
| Bridget Carleton | 1997 | Chatham ON |
| Chelayne Bailey | 1997 | Ajax ON |
| Cheyenne Creighton | 1996 | Pickering ON |
| Christina Buttenham | 1996 | Hamilton ON |
| Daneesha Provo | 1996 | Dartmouth NS |
| Danielle Garven | 1997 | Scarborough ON |
| Eternati Willock | 1997 | Scarborough ON |
| Hailey Brown | 1999 | Hamilton ON |
| Halie Bovell | 1998 | Hamilton ON |
| Jaelyne Kirkpatrick | 1997 | Oakville ON |
| Julia Chandler | 1997 | Toronto ON |
| Kacie Bosch | 1996 | Lethbridge AB |
| Kendra Van Leeuwen | 1997 | Brantford ON |
| Kyanna Giles | 1998 | Winnipeg MB |
| Lauren Yearwood | 1997 | Victoria BC |
| Linnaea Harper | 1996 | Newmarket ON |
| Mael Gilles | 1997 | Montreal QC |
| Michaela Nieuwenhuizen | 1997 | Strathroy ON |
| Mikaela Brewer | 1998 | Barrie ON |
| Nancy Kessler | 1996 | St Catherine’s ON |
| Nicole Vander Helm | 1997 | Surrey BC |
| Oksana Gouchie-Provencher | 1998 | Markham ON |
| Shantelle Valentine | 1996 | Brampton ON |
| Shay Colley | 1996 | Brampton ON |
| Tayla Jackson | 1997 | Surrey BC |
Source: http://www.basketball.ca