TORONTO, ON (March 8, 2022) - 44 athletes from across the country have been invited to participate in the Women's High Performance National Team Age-Group Assessment Camp at Humber College (Toronto, ON) from March 27-31, 2022. Part of this selection includes Manitoba's Tanah Becker of Winnipeg who is currently competing with the Lincoln Prep basketball program in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA) and with the Kia Nurse Elite AAU basketball program which are both based out of Hamilton, ON.
“As we prepare for this summer's FIBA U17 Women's World Cup 2022 and FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship 2022, we’re looking forward to getting our athletes and coaches safely back together to continue training and growing together as a program,” said Denise Dignard, General Manager / Executive Vice-President, Women's High Performance. “Our Women's High Performance National Team Age-Group Assessment Camps have been a critical long-term development opportunity for our program in the past and is a chance for our identified athletes to not only demonstrate their growth, but also work with our world class staff to establish individualized plans to aid in their development as players.”
The objective of the camp is to provide a national training environment with an international focus to top identified athletes in a variety of age groups ranging from those born in 2004 and later.
Attendees will undergo physical testing, be integrated into the Canadian style of play, develop individual performance plans (IPP) and next steps, all while competing against the best in their age-group. Off the court, players will participate in a variety of educational and personal development sessions, including a Safe Sport workshop, IST planning (nutrition and recovery), as well as leadership training.
Players and coaches will also have an opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with Noelle Quinn, Lead Assistant Coach, Senior Women’s National Team and Head Coach of the Seattle Storm, as well as Sefu Bernard, Director of Player Development from the 2019 WNBA Champion Washington Mystics.
This will be the first in-person assessment camp since 2020. As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Canada Basketball’s Women’s High Performance program adapted over the past two years to deliver virtual programming to nationally identified age-group athletes, including hosting a Women’s High Performance Age-Group Virtual Camp.
Athletes born in 2005 or later will be assessed for participation on the U17 team, which will compete this summer at the FIBA U17 Women's World Cup 2022 in Debrecen, Hungary from July 9-17, 2022. Last summer, the team earned a silver medal at the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship 2021 in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Athletes born in 2004 or later will be assessed for their participation on the U18 team, competing at the FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship 2022 (June 13-18, 2022 at a location TBD).
Canada is currently ranked 8th overall in the FIBA women's age-group rankings, presented by Nike.