Senior Women's National Team begins training camp at Saville Centre
On May 24, Canada Basketball announced the 27 athletes invited to attend the Senior Women's National Team Program Assessment Camp from May 26-June 1 at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
“This phase is the start of what will be our final push towards qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said Lisa Thomaidis, Head Coach, Senior Women's National Team. “We are excited to see how this group will work together to develop the chemistry on and off-the-court that is necessary to be successful on the international scene.”
Following the Senior Women's National Team Program Assessment Camp, Canada will also hold Phase 1 Training Camp (June 2-9) at the Saville Community Sports Centre. Training camp will be followed by a five-game European exhibition tour in Belgium (June 14-16) and Great Britain (June 18-19).
“We are looking forward to our exhibition series in Brussels and Manchester and for our senior athletes to gain international game experience against world-class talent as we play against Belgium, China, Spain and Great Britain,” said Denise Dignard, Director Women's High Performance.
While in the City of Edmonton, Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team will continue to work to grow the game of basketball both on the court and in the community.
Next week, members of the team will be visiting local students at Spruce Grove Comp High School, Victoria School of the Arts, John Maland High School and Archbishop Joseph MacNeil Catholic School for drills and on-court activities, question and answer sessions as well as photo and autograph opportunities.
In addition, Canada Basketball will be holding a coaching clinic at the Saville Community Sports Centre on Sunday, May 26. The clinic will be run by Mike MacKay, Canada Basketball Performance Manager, Women's High Performance and is open to coaches across Alberta. For additional information and to register, visit gameplanbasketball.ca.
On Thursday, May 30, coaches from Alberta universities and colleges will have a professional development opportunity to observe and interact with Canada Basketball’s world class Performance Analyst and Sport Scientist. Those participating in the performance analyst stream will have the chance to watch the coding of practice video for team / player analysis and future observation. The Sport Scientist stream will monitor training load measures live in practice for analysis and application of training load prescriptions during training camp.
Team Canada will also be in attendance at the Expo Centre on Friday, May 31 when the hometown Edmonton Stingers take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers at 7:00 PM. Don’t miss your chance to come and meet Team Canada. Tickets available at thestingers.ca
Entering the tournament as two-time defending FIBA AmeriCup champions, Canada will look to make it three straight this September at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2019. Canada has found a spot on the podium in seven of the last eight competitions dating back to the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Culiacan, Mexico.
In November, Canada will play in one of two FIBA Women's Pre-Qualifying Tournaments in Americas to qualify for one of the four global FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, taking place in February 2020. Canada will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a top three finish in their group in the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020.
Looking to defend their gold medal from the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada will also be participating in the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games (August 6-10). Canada is one of only three countries (Brazil, USA) to have participated in every Pan Am Games tournament since 1955, earning a gold, a silver and three bronze medals in 15 appearances. Additional details regarding Canada’s Pan-Am Games team will be announced at a later date.
A full list of athletes, coaches and team schedule can be found below. Training camp will take place at the Saville Community Sports Centre and is closed to the public. Media are invited to post-practice scrums on the following dates:
Tuesday, May 28
12:15 p.m. Gym Opens
12:30 p.m. Availability
Sunday, June 2
5:00 p.m. Gym Opens
5:15 p.m. Availability
Monday, June 3
1:00 p.m. Gym Opens
1:15 p.m. Availability
Sunday, June 9
11:45 a.m. Gym Opens
12:00 p.m. Availability
Media interested in attending training camp can contact mwalker@basketball.ca.
Canada is currently ranked 5th worldwide in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE.
*All times are MDT and subject to change
2019 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM ASSESSMENT CAMP INVITES
| Name | Position | Height | Hometown | 2018-2019 Club / School |
| Natalie Achonwa* | Power Forward | 6'3" | Guelph, ON | Jiangsu Phoenix (China) / Indiana Fever (WNBA) |
| Kayla Alexander | Forward | 6'4" | Milton, ON | Adelaide Lightning (Australia) / Indiana Fever (WNBA) |
| Laeticia Amihere** | Forward | 6’3” | Milton, ON | South Carolina (NCAA) / King’s Christian Collegiate (OSBA) |
| Miranda Ayim | Forward | 6'3" | London, ON | Basket Landes (France) |
| Maggie Besselink | Guard | 6’2” | Kingston, ON | Holy Cross CSS (HS) |
| Hailey Brown | Forward | 6'1" | Hamilton, ON | Michigan (NCAA) |
| Cassandra Brown | Forward | 6’3” | Vernon, BC | Dafni Agioy (Greece) |
| Bridget Carleton* | Guard | 6'1" | Chatham, ON | Iowa State (NCAA) / Connecticut Sun (WNBA) |
| Shay Colley | Point Guard | 5'9" | Brampton, ON | Michigan State (NCAA) |
| Quinn Dornstauder | Centre | 6’4” | Regina, SK | Mann Filter (Spain) |
| Aaliyah Edwards | Forward | 6’3” | Kingston, ON | Crestwood Prep (OSBA) |
| Abigail Fogg | Centre | 6'4" | Sault Ste Marie, ON | Elazig (Turkey) |
| Kim Gaucher** | Shooting Guard | 6'1" | Mission, BC | Mondeville (France) |
| Hanna Hall | Point Guard | 5’3” | Hamilton, ON | Buffalo (NCAA) |
| Ruth Hamblin | Centre | 6'6" | Houston, BC | Castors Braine (Belgium ) / Las Vegas Aces (WNBA) |
| Sami Hill | Guard | 5'10" | Toronto, ON | Donau-Ries (Germany) |
| Alyssa Jerome** | Forward | 6'2" | Toronto, ON | Stanford (NCAA) |
| Alex Kiss-Rusk | Centre | 6'4" | Beaconsfield, QC | Marburg (Germany) |
| Aislinn Konig | Guard | 5'9" | Langley, BC | North Carolina State (NCAA) |
| Miah-Marie Langlois | Point Guard | 5'8" | Windsor, ON | Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia) |
| Ceejay Nofuente | Guard | 5’9” | Toronto, ON | SISU (Denmark) |
| Kia Nurse* | Guard | 6'0" | Hamilton, ON | Canberra Capitals (Australia) / New York Liberty (WNBA) |
| Shaina Pellington | Guard | 5'8" | Pickering, ON | Oklahoma (NCAA) |
| Emily Potter | Centre | 6'4" | Winnipeg, MB | Politechnika Gdanska (Poland) |
| Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe* | Forward | 6'2" | Vernon, BC | Bourges (France) / New York Liberty (WNBA) |
| Merissah Russell | Guard | 5’11” | Ottawa, ON | Capital Courts (OSBA) |
| Jamie Scott | Guard | 5'10" | Clarkston, WA | Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia) |
* Unavailable to attend due to WNBA
** Invited but unable to attend Phase 1
2019 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM ASSESSMENT CAMP COACHES & STAFF
| Name | Position | Hometown | Affiliation |
| Lisa Thomaidis | Head Coach | Saskatoon, SK | University of Saskatchewan |
| Steve Baur | Assistant Coach | Wolfville, NS | Canada Basketball |
| Carly Clarke | Assistant Coach | Halifax, NS | Ryerson University |
| Max Hirst | Coordinator, Performance Analysis | Collingwood, ON | Canada Basketball |
| Lauren Buschmann | Sports Scientist & IST Manager | St. Catharines, ON | Canada Basketball/CSI-Ontario |
| Rhonda Shishkin | Physiotherapist | Saskatoon, SK | University of Saskatchewan |
| Patrice Pepin | Physiotherapist | Quebec City, QC | N/A |
| Elyse Jobin | Physiotherapist (Assessment only) | Quebec City, QC | N/A |
| Bryce Tully | Mental Performance Coach | Halifax, NS | CSC-Atlantic |
| Marni Wesner | Lead Physician | Edmonton, AB | University of Alberta |
| Jacquelyn Corkum | Physician (Competition) | Halifax, NS | N/A |
| Elaine Sun | Manager, Basketball Operations | Thornhill, ON | Canada Basketball |
| Sarah Leaitch | Team Manager | Newmarket, ON | N/A |
| Denise Dignard | Director, WHP | Port Cartier, QC | Canada Basketball |
| Mike MacKay | Performance Manager, WHP | Truro, NS | Canada Basketball |
2019 WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING AND EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
| DATE | ITEM | TIME (ET) | LOCATION |
| May 26 - June 1 | Assessment Camp |
| Saville Community Sports Centre Edmonton, AB |
| June 2-9 | Training Camp |
| |
| June 14 | Canada vs. China | 12:00 PM | Belgium Exhibition Tournament Brussels, Belgium |
| June 15 | Canada vs. Belgium | 1:00 PM | |
| June 16 | Canada vs. Spain | 8:30 AM | |
| June 18 | Canada vs. Great Britain | 2:30 PM | Manchester, England |
| June 19 | Canada vs. Great Britain | 2:30 PM |
