Oak Bay’s Lauren Yearwood is among those invited to take part in the women’s national age-group basketball assessment camp at Humber College in Toronto this month.
The camp offers a national training environment with international focus to top athletes 18 years and younger who have been selected through the national identification process.
Denise Dignard, director of women’s high performance, said the camp will provide the skills and knowledge that can be used towards the goal of becoming a world-class athlete representing Canada at the top international level.
“Having a pool of world-class coaches who are committed to the long-term development of podium athletes for the senior national team is a key contributor to our successful system. When we gather individuals who are all striving for excellence, the energy is tremendous and sparks the passion for continued growth.”
Yearwood, a Grade 12 at Oak Bay High, has accepted a scholarship to play next year with the University of Oregon Ducks.
Women’s high performance coaches from across the country will provide leadership, including junior (U18) women’s national team head coach Rich Chambers (Terry Fox secondary) and 2014 cadette (U16) women’s national team head coach Carly Clarke (Ryerson University).
National team sport scientists, coaches and technical staff will conduct testing and training sessions, as well as assess the overall athlete pool to determine the areas of growth of the athletes as well as list of invitees for the March age-group camp leading towards the nominees to the 2015 summer cadette and junior national team program tryouts.
Silver medalist at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Colorado Springs, the junior squad has advanced to the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships for Women in Russia from July 16-26.
Canada is currently ranked fourth in the world in the FIBA women’s age-group rankings.
editor@oakbaynews.com