Great Britain - British Basketball women's coach Tom Maher picks first squad
GB Standard Life women's head coach Tom Maher has selected a strong roster for his debut campaign leading the senior team as they look to qualify for the Eurobasket Championship which will be held in Poland in 2011. Maher who has an impressive coaching pedigree at club and international level, leading Australia, New Zealand and China to Olympic Games - including a silver and bronze for Australia in 2000 and 1996 respectively and a fourth place finish for China in Beijing in 2008.
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GB Standard Life women's head coach Tom Maher has selected a strong roster for his debut campaign leading the senior team as they look to qualify for the Eurobasket Championship which will be held in Poland in 2011.
Maher who has an impressive coaching pedigree at club and international level, leading Australia, New Zealand and China to Olympic Games - including a silver and bronze for Australia in 2000 and 1996 respectively and a fourth place finish for China in Beijing in 2008.
The roster includes a mixture of experience and emerging talent ahead of what will be a tough campaign where they will play Slovak Republic, Germany and Ukraine home and away.
Experienced campaigners like Rosalee Mason, Meagan Hoffman, Stephanie Collins and Kim Butler will be joined by such players as Johannah Leedham, who was picked 27th in round three of the WNBA draft, and Scottish born Rose Anderson.
"I have now been in the position long enough to enable me to assess the roster and work out what I needed to bring in for the forthcoming campaign. I think the balance we have between experience and emerging talent should provide us with the correct mix for what will be a challenging summer programme. It is disappointing we have recently lost Yemi (Oyefuwa) to injury as she would have made the roster this season, however we wish her well for a speedy recovery." said Maher.
In preparation of the campaign, camp will commence on 4 June at a training base in Stirling before a number test games, two of which will be at Surrey University, and away fixtures in Belgium, Holland and Israel. All the test fixtures will supersede the competitive Eurobasket schedule which gets underway on 14 August at home to Slovakia.
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"We have brought the roster in earlier than usual so we can get as much time together before the games get underway. This is an important summer for the team, so we need to be 100% prepared for what is going to be an intensive summer of basketball" continued Maher.
It was announced last week that for the first time, the Standard Life men's and women's team will stage two double headers in Birmingham and Liverpool on the 14 and 26 August. The other women's game will be hosted at the new basketball venue at Surrey University.
GB Standard Life women's roster:
Anderson, Rose - University Central Oklahoma, USA
Butler, Kim - Panionios, Greece
Butters, Kate - UWIC Archers, EBL
Collins, Stephanie - UWIC Archers, EBL
Gandy, Stephanie - City of Sheffield Hatters, EBL
Handy, Chantelle - Marshall University, USA
Hoffman, Meagan - UWIC Archers, EBL
Hutchinson, Lisa - City of Sheffield Hatters, EBL
Leedham, Johannah - Franklin Pierce University, USA
Mason, Rosalee - City of Sheffield Hatters, EBL
McKay, Sarah - Unattached
Page, Julie - Pays d'Aix Basket 13, France
Stewart, Azania - Florida University, USA
Johnson-Thomas, Lauren - Marquette University, USA
Wade-Frey, Jeneya - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA
Claydon, Jo - Leeds Carnegie, EBL
Wood, Joanne - Sandringham Sabres, Australia