AUS - Defence Jobs joins with Opals to name World Champs team

SYDNEY (FIBA World Championship for Women) - The Australian Opals have made two exciting announcements today, with a new naming rights sponsor helping name the 12 athletes for the FIBA World Championships to be played in Brazil next month.

The one-year sponsorship deal with Australian Defence Force Recruiting, announced today at Parliament House in Canberra by the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Hon. Bruce Billson MP, also includes the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and will inject funding into Australian women's basketball and grants naming rights to Defence Jobs for both the national league and national team.

It is the second consecutive time the Opals and the WNBL have signed a combined sponsorship deal.

Talented centre for the Defence Jobs Opals, Hollie Grima, was on hand to help launch the new sponsorship and also help celebrate her naming in the team.

"It's wonderful to have Defence Force Recruiting on board with the Opals and the WNBL," she said. "Australian women's basketball will benefit immeasurably from our new partnership and it's great that they could be here today to help with the unveiling of the team for the World Championships."

Also named today to the Defence Jobs Opals team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship to be held in Brazil from 12 – 23 September were Tully Bevilaqua (Indiana WNBA/Canberra Capitals), Kristi Harrower (Valenciennes, France), Lauren Jackson (Seattle WNBA), Emily McInerny (Dandenong Rangers), Erin Phillips (Connecticut WNBA/Adelaide Lightning), Emma Randall (Samara, Russia), Jennifer Screen (Parma, Italy/Adelaide Lightning), Belinda Snell (Phoenix WNBA), Laura Summerton (Connecticut WNBA), Penny Taylor (Phoenix WNBA) and Jenny Whittle (Mizo Pecs, Hungary/Canberra Capitals).

This new alliance will assist Basketball Australia to nurture and develop Australia's best female basketballers, not only for next month's World Championships, but also in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics where it is hoped the Aussie girls can win basketball's first Olympic gold medal.

"This outstanding deal will create increased opportunities for women's basketball in Australia and we are looking forward to working with Australian Defence Force Recruiting throughout the period of this deal," Basketball Australia Chief Executive Scott Derwin said. "Our female basketballers will provide role models for Defence Jobs and help spread the message about careers within the Australian Defence Force."

Currently, of the more than 230 jobs on offer in Navy, Army, and Air Force there are only three not open to women and it is hoped to increase the awareness of working for Defence among Australian women through the new sponsorship.

The new partnership with the Olympic silver medal-winning Opals and Australia's premier national sporting competition for women should prove an outstanding match for DFR.

The Defence Jobs Opals are currently the third-ranked women's basketball team in the world and have won a medal at every major international championship since the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, including a gold medal at the recent Commonwealth Games. The team will leave for Brazil next month to take part in the FIBA World Championships for women in Sao Paolo. The current crop of Opals stars includes the experience of Jackson, Taylor, Whittle and Harrower together with the new generation of stars including Phillips, Summerton and Grima.
Established in 1981, the WNBL showcases the best players from around Australia. Featuring eight teams from six different states and running from October to February, the league is a hot bed of international talent. The teams in the competition are Adelaide Lightning, Australian Institute of Sport, Bulleen Melbourne Boomers, Canberra Capitals, Dandenong Rangers, Perth Lynx, Sydney Uni Flames and Townsville Fire.

The Defence Jobs Opals leave for Brazil in late August and will play warm up matches in the Czech Republic and the USA before playing their first match of the World Championships against Brazil on September 12.

Opals team: Tully Bevilaqua (Indiana WNBA/Canberra Capitals), Hollie Grima (Bulleen Boomers), Kristi Harrower (Valenciennes, France), Lauren Jackson (Seattle WNBA), Emily McInerny (Dandenong Rangers), Erin Phillips (Connecticut WNBA/Adelaide Lightning), Emma Randall (Samara, Russia), Jennifer Screen (Parma, Italy/Adelaide Lightning), Belinda Snell (Phoenix WNBA), Laura Summerton (Connecticut WNBA), Penny Taylor (Phoenix WNBA), Jenny Whittle (Mizo Pecs, Hungary/Canberra Capitals)

Head Coach: Jan Stirling
Assistant Coaches: Gary Fox, Cheryl Chambers
Manager: Marian Stewart
Doctor: Scott Burne
Physiotherapist Amanda Berntsen
Team Physiologist Donna O'Connor

Basketball Asutralia