Toronto (2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - Canada Basketball announced today that Women's National Development Coach Christine Stapleton will continue as head coach of Canada's U18 women's team in 2006. Stapleton will be assisted on the bench by Nova Scotia's Angie McLeod and Alberta's Donna Branch.
Stapleton has been Canada's National Development Coach since 2002 and first began her coaching career at the national team level in 1998 when she helped guide Canada's youth women at the 1998 World Youth Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia. Stapleton has coached four levels of national team programs (Junior, Youth, Young and Development) and last year led Canada's first-ever entry into FIBA U19 World Championship for Women in Tunis, Tunisia, finishing ninth.
McLeod will coach at the national team level for the first time. Head Coach at Acadia University, McLeod is also the Head Coach of Canada Basketball's Atlantic Centre for Performance and was part of Canada Basketball's Nike All-Canada Camp. Before joining Acadia, McLeod took the University of Ottawa Gee Gee's program which had won only two games in 2002, to an Ontario University Championship (OUA) in 2004. McLeod also represented Canada Basketball at the PASO Level 2 International Coaches Clinic in Puerto Rico last year.
This will also be Branch's first time coaching at the national team level. Branch is the Head Coach of the University of Lethbridge's Women's Basketball Team and is also involved in Canada Basketball's Alberta Regional Training Centre. She coached Alberta's Provincial Juvenile team to a silver medal at the 2005 Canada Games and is a former Basketball Alberta Coach of the Year. Branch was also an athlete on Canada's 1978 Junior Women's National Team.
"We are very excited to have such a strong coaching team in place that has balanced success at the university and provincial team levels.
"All three coaches have experience coaching this age-grade and are already familiar with national team curriculum and coaching philosophies through our Centres for Performance and Regional Training Centres. We are looking forward to this group leading our Canadian junior women to re-qualify for a spot in the 2007 FIBA Junior Women's World Championship." commented Denise Dignard, Manager – Women's Elite Performance.
The team will begin its invited tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colorado June 11-13 in preparation of the FIBA America U18 Championship, Qualification Tournament of for the FIBA U19 World Championship for women June 28-July 2, also in Colorado.
Canada has been placed in pool "B" for the qualification championship and will play preliminary round games against Puerto Rico (June 28th), Argentina (June 29th) and Costa Rica (June 30th).
The United States, Paraguay, Brazil and the Domincan Republic are also competing in the tournament in pool "A".
Canada Basketball