Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) are pleased to announce the selection of its U17 Men’s & Women’s National Teams for 2022.
Both squads will assemble in Auckland for a National Preparation Camp from 18-20 April, in advance of their respective FIBA Asia Cup events overseas in June – and the opportunity for both teams to earn a ticket to the U17 FIBA World Cup.
U17 Men’s National Team
The U17 Men’s National Team has named the following 12 players: Nic Book, Louie Gordon, George Grant, Julius Halaifonua, Dante Matakatea, William Passi, Brody Perry, Kalid Petzer, Will Shortt, Hunter Trego, Phoenix Trego and George Turner.
The seven Reserves have been named as: Zavier Adam, Kaia Berridge, Nicholas Davidson, Toby Hickey, Hikaia Lambert, Bronson Schmidt-Uili and Seth Whinney.
In addition, Darron Larsen has been named as head coach, with Chris Tupu and Jack Williamson both named as assistant coaches.
The U17 Men’s team will make its way to the U16 Men’s FIBA Asia Cup – postponed from 2021 due to Covid – which takes place from 12-19 June in Doha, Qatar.
If they achieve a top four finish in this competition, they will qualify for the U17 Men’s FIBA World Cup from 2-10 July in Spain, which coach Larsen believes is an achievable goal.
“Obviously our goal is to finish top four [in the U16 Men’s FIBA Asia Cup] and I think we’ve got an exciting and talented group of players who can achieve that,” says Larsen.
“And it’ll be huge for them to do that; it will be really pleasing for these kids – who have probably missed out on so much over the past two years because of Covid – to get this opportunity to compete on the world stage again.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how these guys have developed and how they’ve improved over the past year – and how far they can progress in the World Cup.”
U17 Women’s National Team
The U17 Women’s National Team is as follows: Ivy Brown, Waimanu Clarken, Elise Gilbert, Maia Jones, Hana Lacey-Rameka, Tannika Leger-Walker, Amy-Lee Pateman, Ashlyn Rean, Lilly Taulelei, Lauren Whittaker and Karereatua Williams.
In addition, eight Reserves have been named: Kaelani Albert-Neha, Terina Cameron, Rangikahiwa Cooney, Mahina-A-Rangi Kukutai-Wairau, Holly Morgan, Carly Ohia, Ritorya Tamilo and Caitlyn Ward.
Head coach has been confirmed as seasoned Junior National Team Coach, Lori McDaniel, who is supported by Pina Lissaman and Ryan Dubbeldam as assistant coaches.
This squad will travel to Jordan 24-30 June to participate in the U16 Women’s FIBA Asia Cup, which was also postponed from its original 2021 date.
As with the men’s team, if this side finishes in the top four in the Asia Cup they book a spot in the U17 Women’s FIBA World Cup – which is being held from 9–17 July in Hungary.
Coach McDaniel says that it is exciting to have the opportunity to bring the players in to all train together, given “the climate that we live in”.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how they’ve progressed over the past year, because we’ve had limited interaction with them so it’ll be exciting to have the group together again,” says McDaniel.
“We can start putting our plans together now and begin to move forward; it’s all about getting ourselves ready to compete internationally come June. And we’ll go in there planning to qualify for the World Cup in July, so everything we do will be with that focus of achieving that goal.”
“And once we get to the World Cup, having been there before and knowing what we’re up against, we’ll be able to take what we’re learnt and put it into practice against the best teams in the world.”
BBNZ National Pathways Manager, Mel Downer says that after two years of no international competition for our Junior National Program, it is a “massive deal” to have these teams confirmed in the upcoming Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup.
This year we’ll have an unprecedented eight international FIBA events to prepare for, including all six of our junior national teams preparing for some kind of event, which is fantastic,” says Downer.
“Our National Preparation Camp will play an important role in getting everyone ready for these activities; given the lack of basketball our athletes and coaches have been exposed to over the last two years, it help gives our teams the best possible chance to prepare.”
Downer says that the health and wellbeing of its athletes and staff remain of the highest priority for BBNZ.
“We’ve taken number of steps to mitigate the risk of Covid spread during these international competitions, and we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure our teams will be able to compete safely in these qualifiers.
“These are important qualifying events for our National teams, with an opportunity to represent New Zealand at a World Championship on the line – so it’s vital we can attend these tournaments in a safe and risk-adverse way.”
U17 Men’s National Team
Nic Book, Canterbury Basketball
Louie Gordon, Canterbury Basketball
George Grant, Basketball Otago
Julius Halaifonua, Harbour Basketball
Dante Matakatea, Basketball Auckland
William Passi, Counties-Manakau Basketball
Kalid Petzer, Basketball Auckland
Brody Perry, Franklin Basketball
Will Shortt, Basketball Auckland
Hunter Trego, New Zealand
Phoenix Trego, New Zealand
George Turner , Counties-Manakau Basketball
Reserves
Zavier Adam, Basketball Taranaki
Kaia Berridge, Tauranga City Basketball
Nicholas Davidson, Nelson Basketball
Toby Hickey, New Zealand
Hikaia Lambert, Basketball Manawatu
Bronson Schmidt-Uili, Hutt Valley Basketball
Seth Whinney, Tauranga City Basketball
U17 Women’s National Team
Ivy Brown, North Canterbury Basketball
Waimanu Clarken, Basketball Auckland
Elise Gilbert, Waikato Basketball
Maia Jones, Nelson Basketball
Cassidy (Hana) Lacey-Rameka, Rotorua Basketball
Tannika Leger-Walker, Waikato Basketball
Amy-Lee Pateman, Harbour Basketball
Ashlyn Rean, North Canterbury Basketball
Lilly Taulelei, Wellington Basketball
Lauren Whittaker, Canterbury Basketball
Karereatua Williams, Canterbury Basketball
Reserves
Kaelani Albert-Neha, Waikato Basketball
Terina Cameron, Northland Basketball
Rangikahiwa Cooney, Tauranga City Basketball
Mahina-A-Rangi Kukutai-Wairau, Northland Basketball
Holly Morgan, Wellington Basketball
Carly Ohia, Rotorua Basketball
Ritorya Tamilo, Basketball Auckland
Caitlyn Ward, Waikato Basketball
