‍TORONTO, ON (April 14, 2022) - Canada Basketball announced Thursday that 59 athletes from across the country will participate this weekend in a Men’s High Performance National Team Age-Group Assessment Camp at Humber College (Toronto, ON) from April 15-18, 2022.

“As a program, we’re looking forward to getting our top age-group players back in the gym this weekend to not only see first-hand their development, but to watch them compete best-on-best,” said Michael Meeks, Assistant General Manager, Men's Basketball Operations. “As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be our first opportunity to host an age-group assessment camp since 2019 and it will be an important first step for us to begin building our teams and culture ahead of this summer’s FIBA competitions.”

The objective of the camp is to provide a national training environment with an international focus to top identified athletes in a variety of age groups ranging from those born in 2004 and later.  At the camp, national team coaches, sports scientists and technical staff will work to identify athletes who will be invited to the next stage of the 2022 age-group programs later this summer.

Athletes will also participate in workshops on mental performance, as well as various aspects of athlete performance, including strength and conditioning, rehab and recovery, as well as nutrition.

Players selected to participate in this camp were identified based on their performance during regional identification camps, high school seasons and club competitions.

Athletes born in 2005 or later will be assessed for participation on the U17 team, which will compete this summer at the FIBA U17 World Cup 2022 in Spain from July 2-10, 2022.  Last summer, the team earned a bronze medal at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship 2021 in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Athletes born in 2004 or later will be assessed for their participation on the U18 team, competing at the FIBA U18 Men’s Americas Championship 2022 (June 6-12, 2022 at a location TBD).  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the first FIBA U18 Men’s Americas Championship since Canada hosted the event in 2018 in St. Catharines and captured silver.

As announced earlier this week, Patrick Tatham will return this summer as head coach and lead Canada at both the FIBA U17 World Cup 2022 and FIBA U18 Men’s Americas Championship 2022.

Coaches interested in volunteering at future Men’s High Performance National Team age-group training camps can register here for additional information.

Canada is currently ranked 4th overall in the FIBA men’s age-group rankings, presented by Nike.