TORONTO, Ont. (July 22, 2021) - Canada Basketball announced Thursday the 12 athletes who will represent Canada at the upcoming FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2021.
Head Coach Fabian McKenzie will lead Team Canada FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2021 and is accompanied by assistant coaches Tamara Tatham and Marlo Davis.
"We are very excited to get on court as a team after a long period of uncertainty," said McKenzie. "This group of young women have done a tremendous job of adapting to our circumstances. Over the past year and a half they have taken advantage of every opportunity to improve themselves through our online touchpoints and through personal workouts."
"Our coaching staff is looking forward to getting the team on the court and preparing for the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup," said McKenzie. "I know our athletes can't wait to get back together and they are even more excited to represent Canada."
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the team will hold training camp at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio from July 22-August 2 before departing for Hungary.
The FIBA U19 Basketball Women’s World Cup 2021 is scheduled for August 7-15, 2021 in Debrecen, Hungary and fans in Canada can catch all the action streaming live on FIBA YouTube.
The sixteen (16) participating teams in the FIBA U19 Basketball Women’s World Cup 2021 have been divided into four (4) groups (A, B, C, and D) of four (4) teams each. Each team will play against all other teams in its own group (a total of 3 games for each team).
Canada is in Group D and will face Japan (August 7, 8:00 AM ET), Czech Republic (August 8, 5:00 AM ET), and Mali (August 10, 5:00 AM ET). Click here for the full tournament schedule.
All teams qualify for the Round of 16, where they will cross between Groups A and B and C and D (A1 v B4, A2 v B3, etc.). The winners of the Round of 16 games advance to the Quarter-Finals, while the losers move on to the Classification Games for Places 9-16.
Canada’s highest finish in the event was a bronze medal at the FIBA U19 Basketball Women’s World Cup 2017 in Italy. This will be Canada’s tenth appearance at the event since the 1985 World Championship for Junior Women.
Canada is currently ranked 4th worldwide in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE.
*Alternates