TORONTO, ON (May 24, 2019) - Canada Basketball has 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, AB. 


Manitoba's Emily Potter is one of those athletes invited.  Emily heads to Edmonton after a successful role as basketball ambassador as part of the Basketball Manitoba School Visit program where she interacted with over 16,000 Winnipeg area students.  Read more about Emily...

“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. 

Canada is currently ranked 5th worldwide in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE.

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
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