The CMU Women's Basketball program has announced the commitment of Caeli Palmer for the 2024-25 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Garden City Collegiate and Attack Basketball product will bring her well-rounded and versatile game to the Blazers next fall.
Playing for a perennial championship contender in the powerhouse Garden City program, Palmer has enjoyed a very successful high school basketball career that saw her Gophers team take home the MHSAA "AAAA" Provincial Championship Title to cap off her junior varsity years, then followed it up with two finals appearances in her grade eleven and twelve seasons. The team entered four tournaments leading up to the provincial championships and made the final in all four weekends, including three championships wins at the Pembina Trails Bisons Classic, the St Mary's Invitational, and the Marples Varsity Girls tournament. The one tournament the Gophers were bested in the final, the St Vital Invitational, Palmer was named a tournament All-Star. She also featured on the Garden City volleyball team as a middle, the school soccer team, and on the track and field squad as a pentathlete. It comes as no surprise then that Palmer is as versatile on the basketball court as she is an all-around athlete, able to slot in down low or on the perimeter as needed.
Palmer has been just as successful in the club circuit, having played with Attack Basketball since her grade ten year. She also shares an incredible run of wins at the club level across several seasons, having not lost to another club program in the same age category between 2017 and 2024, a streak that was only recently broken this spring. As with her high school teams, Palmer's play ranges all over the court during club competitions, and is looking forward to continuing her development at the upcoming Grand Am tournament. With Attack she plays under head coach Suk Singh, a notable figure in the basketball scene in Manitoba, who has helped Palmer considerably along her basketball journey. Singh is excited to see Caeli play for 'the Mighty Doves,' and noted that the Blazers are getting a very hard worker in Palmer, someone who has improved very much from day one, and a player that is scary on defence, giving opposition offence fits to score against.
The championships pedigree that Palmer will bring to the CMU women's basketball program certainly won't go unnoticed, as the Blazers have been perennial contenders themselves over the past six seasons. Palmer is excited to join such a successful program and fun group of women as she continues her basketball career at the college level. She's no stranger to a number of current Blazers student-athletes who she met in past years, as well as fellow new recruit Gina Maher, who she matched up with on a number of occasions this past year in big games at both the high school and club levels.
The Blazers Women's Basketball program is looking to rebound this season after their run of five consecutive MCAC title wins came to an end this past February. Plenty of talent on the team and a revamped NIAC and MCAC schedule that sees the St Boniface Rouges enter the American conference looks to make for another exciting campaign both here in Manitoba as well as in the Northern United States.