MUNICH (FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 Qualifiers) - As the EuroBasket Women 2017 qualifiers come into focus, an opportunity beckons for Netherlands to transform the promise and success established at youth level during recent years into tangible success at senior team level.

Ultimately that would mean punching what has proven to be an elusive ticket for the Final Round - although the hurdle of so many fine players now in the NCAA and not returning for the qualification windows could prove a stumbling block.

Yet the Netherlands' talent pool is deep, with the Federation also embarking on an exciting project in EuroCup Women via the new Orange Blizzards side - coached by national team play-caller Remy De Wit and harnessing an array of rising stars and a sprinkling of veteran hands.

Fleur Kuijt is one of the burgeoning young talents looking to make an impression - only her season has been delayed due to an injury she sustained at the FIBA U19 Women's World Championship in Russia earlier this year.

To merely say Kuijt hails from a basketball family feels like an acute understatement. For she's one of four sisters who all tread the boards and it doesn't stop there.

"Well, I basically grew up in the gym," she smiled, prior to reading out a lengthy list of family members with basketball in their blood.

"Both of my parents played basketball and they are still very active with the sport and my mother also played in the national team.

"I have three sisters - Karin, Sonja and Ilse. They all play or have played for the Netherlands and I'm really proud of them.

"This summer, one of my little cousins, Rosalie, played her first big tournament for the Dutch team.

"Then I have two other cousins and one nephew who also play basketball.

"Their parents are also really active at the basketball association, so you can say that the sport is a big part of our lives."

That is why missing out on the early EuroCup Women games is so hard to accept for Kuijt - although she is hopeful it won't be long before she gets back onto the floor and fully recovers from her serious knee injury.

She revealed, "I've been injured for three months now and I can't wait to be on the court again after this.

"And as for what kind of patient I am - let's just say I'm really, really happy that it's almost over and I can soon do what I love most!

"Especially as I think the 'Orange Blizzards project' is a very good initiative.

"The players who play in the Netherlands can play at the wider European level where we learn different things than in the Dutch Basketball League.

"I never thought I would be a part of it, so I'm just really looking forward to maybe playing in that jersey - and of course playing with my big sis (Karin) for the national team is pretty cool!"

Kuijt was part of the Netherlands team who climbed a podium step in Spain earlier in the year at the U20 European Championship Women. It was a historic event as they claimed their country's first ever top-flight medal.

"Lanzarote was amazing," enthused the 19-year-old.

"Even before the programme started, every member of the team had the same goal - to win a medal.

"We worked really hard and every day, we kept our eyes on the goal we set with each other.

"And then, when you're finally winning a medal you want it so badly, I really can't describe the feeling I got when I stepped onto the podium.

"Now, when I think about it, the smile I had back then appears right away on my face - I'm still really proud of what we did there."

That taste of success is something which the whole of Dutch women's basketball is eager to be mirrored at the senior level.

Can they get there? Well, Kuijt can certainly have enough influence to help her team try when she is healthy again.

"The more experienced seniors set a really high standard of intensity and passion on and off the court, so our task as younger players of the team, is to reach that level too," she mused.

"I believe that one day the Orange Angels will rise - that's for sure!"

So for this basketball playing sister - it isn't a matter of if, but only when Netherlands will cash in their investment at youth level for a high dividend return at a EuroBasket Women Final Round.

Netherlands' 14-player roster:

Jamailah Adams, Loyce Bettonvil, Jill Bettonvil, Tanya Broring, Zera Butter, Naomi Halman, Maaike Klein, Jacobine Klerx, Karin Kuijt, Fieke Ligthart, Janis Ndiba, Kourtney Treffers, Natalie van den Adel, Chatilla van Grinsven.

FIBA