JT
Years ago
Price Attack Opals squad shrinks to 19
Price Attack Opals squad shrinks to 19
The Australian Price Attack Opals squad has been reduced to 19 athletes as the countdown to the Commonwealth Games begins in earnest.
Head coach Jan Stirling and her staff are confident in the Opals ability to win a gold medal in Melbourne this March.
"We have a really strong group of athletes here," she said from her home base in Adelaide today. "We had a great camp in Melbourne in December, and the Price Attack WNBL continues to be a great training ground for those still fighting it out for a place in the team."
With no more camps to be held before the team is announced in mid February, the Women's National Basketball League is playing an important part in the selection process for Stirling and her staff. With only three rounds remaining in the season, players still in contention are working their hardest for their club and their national level aspirations.
Rohanee Cox (Townsville), Desiree Glaubitz (Bulleen Melbourne), Kathleen Macleod (Dandenong) and Deanna Smith (Perth) are the players not to progress to the next selection round.
"The fact that these obviously talented athletes have not made it to the next round shows that Australian women's basketball is in the enviable position of having an amazing depth of talent at present," Stirling said.
The squad is missing Athens Olympians Penny Taylor (Italy), Suzy Batkovic (Russia) and Kristi Harrower (France).
Alicia Poto (Sydney Uni) and Allison Tranquilli (Bulleen Melbourne), also part of the silver medal winning Athens team, remain in the squad despite both being under injury clouds.
"We recognise that these two women are some of Australia's best basketball players, and we want to give them as long as possible to prove their fitness for March," Stirling explains. "They have until the end of January to prove to the medical staff that they will be 100% fit to play."
