The FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championships for our men (Crocs) and women (Sapphires) begin on Monday, July 10 with the tournament beginning the road to the 2019 Under-19 World Championships.
Under the new qualification system devised by FIBA, qualification for junior World Championships is now completed in two phases.
The FIBA Oceania Under-17 Championships are the first hurdle for Australia before they move through the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championships in 2018 which will qualify them for the World Championships in 2019.
The women’s team is not to be confused with the 2017 Under-19 World Champs side which begins in Italy on July 22.
Assembling in Guam for mini-camps, the Crocs and Sapphires are set to compete against nations from throughout the Pacific for the title of Oceania Champion.
The Sapphires team will be coached by experienced Adelaide 36ers assistant coach Tracy York and will include athletes from six states and territories.
Three Victorians in Cassidy Gould, Chelsea D’Angelo and Maddi Puli will be joined by three Queensland representatives (Miela Goodchild, Jessica McDowell-White and Grace George) as well as Darcy Rees (South Australia), Shyla Heal (New South Wales), Emma Clarke (Western Australia) and Isabelle Bourne (ACT).
Find out all the information regarding the women’s tournament via FIBA’s website here.
Former Australian junior representative and 250-game NBL veteran Darren Perry will lead the Crocs which features four Queensland players in Kody Stattman, Aiden Krause, Samson Froling and Callum Dalton.
Victoria is also represented by four athletes in Sean MacDonald, Tyler Robertson, Josh Kunan and Keli Leaupepe with Isaiah Lee (New South Wales) and Kyle Bowen (Western Australia) rounding out the team.
Find out all the information regarding the men’s tournament via FIBA’s website here.
Live Streams of both events will be available via FIBA’s YouTube channel and stay tuned to the BA social media channels for reminders on game times.
The Under-17 Australian Crocs and Sapphires Oceania Championships Schedule (all times AEST):
July 10: Crocs vs. New Caledonia at 9am
Sapphires vs. Tahiti at 1pm
July 11: Crocs vs. Palau at 6pm
Sapphires vs. Marshall Islands at 8pm
July 12: Sapphires vs. Samoa at 1pm
Crocs vs. Samoa at 3pm
July 14: Semi-Finals
July 15: Grand Finals
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.