Saskatchewan coaches, athletes get chance to represent Canada

 

Saskatchewan will be well represented on this summer’s Canadian Cadet(te) (U17) National teams.  Two coaches will have the opportunity to coach on the international stage, and three athletes have earned invitations from Canada Basketball to tryout for this summer’s teams.

Jacqueline Lavallee of Saskatoon will return this summer as head coach of the Cadette Women’s National Team.  Lavallee led the Cadette team at last summer’s qualification tournament in Mexico, and has been an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team the past seven years.  The Huskies finished third at CIS Nationals in 2009-10, their best finish ever.  She has also led the Centre for Performance program in the province the past five years.

Nathan Schellenberg of Saskatoon has been named an assistant coach for the Cadet Men’s National squad under head coach Roy Rana.  Schellenberg is currently Director of Basketball Development for Basketball Saskatchewan Inc., and is entering his ninth season as an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball program.  The Huskies won the 2009-10 CIS National Championship last March.  He is also the head coach of the U17 Boys Provincial team this summer, and has led the men’s Centre for Performance program in Saskatchewan the past three years.

Three athletes have been invited to tryout camps for this summer’s Cadet(te) teams.  All three are members of Basketball Saskatchewan’s 2010 U17 Provincial teams, and also represented Saskatchewan at the 2009 Canada Summer Games in Summerside, PEI last August.

Paige Crozon (Humboldt Collegiate Institute) is a 6-foot-1 forward from Humboldt.  She is a member of the Centre for Performance program, and led Humboldt to a bronze medal at Hoopla 2010 in the 3A category.

 

Kaylee Halvorson (Regina Luther) was a member of last summer’s Cadette Women’s National Team which competed in Mexico.  She is a 5-foot-10 guard from Regina, and is a member of the Centre for Performance.

 

Joe De Ciman (Regina LeBoldus) is a 6-foot-5 guard from Regina who was a member of last summer’s Cadet Men’s team which qualified at the America’s tournament in Argentina.  He is a three-year member of the Centre for Performance, and led LeBoldus to a 5A silver medal at Hoopla 2010.

 

2010 is an exciting year for both the Men’s and Women’s Teams as both squads will compete in the first-ever FIBA U17 World Championships this summer, the biggest competition on the FIBA schedule for that respective age group. The Cadet(te) National Teams represents the nation’s best athletes under 17 years of age since the team’s inauguration last summer. Again, Canada Basketball worked collaboratively with the provincial sport organizations to identify and develop elite-level players to try out from the Centre for Performance program’s six sites across Canada (B.C., Alberta, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic).

 

Cadette Women’s Team

The Cadette Women’s National Team (CWNT) will also be competing in the FIBA U17 World Championship this summer. Canada finished second in the FIBA Americas U16 Qualification Tournament last summer to earn a spot in the global tournament, which takes place July 16-25 in Toulouse and Rodez, France. Twelve countries will compete, and Canada is assigned to Group B and will play its preliminary round games against Turkey, Japan, the United States, Russia and France.

The CWNT tryouts and training camp will take place June 30 – July 7, 2010 at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in Mississauga, Ont.

Cadet Men’s Team

The Cadet men finished third in the FIBA Americas U16 World Championship Qualification Tournament last summer to qualify for the FIBA U17 World Championship, which takes place July 2-11 in Hamburg, Germany. In total, 12 countries will participate, and Canada is placed in Group B and will play its preliminary round games against Germany, Australia, Spain, Korea and Poland.

The Cadet’s tryouts and training camp will take place at Ryerson University in Toronto beginning with an invitational tryout from June 11-14, followed by training camp from June 15–24 and exhibition games June 25-27 in Spain.

 

With files from Canada Basketball.  For more info and tryout rosters, go to: http://www.basketball.ca/en/hm/inside.php?sid=1&id=4162