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Richmond standout headed to Basketball Canada camp

Marina Radocaj among 56 invited to Toronto from across the country
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Richmond's Marina Radocaj heads to Toronto this week for Basketball Canada Women's National Age-Group Assessment Camp.

Richmond’s Marina Radocaj is among 56 players from across the country invited to this week’s Basketball Canada Women's National Age-Group Assessment Camp at Humber College in Toronto.

The objective of the camp is to provide a national training environment with an international focus to top identified athletes in a variety of age groups ranging from those born in 2002 and later.  Players will undergo physical testing, attend educational sessions in the sport sciences, be integrated into the Canadian style of play, develop individual performance plans, and compete against the best in their age-group.

Radocaj is a 6-foot-2 Grade 9 standout at McMath who earned Richmond and Lower Mainland all-star honours a year ago as an aged up Grade 8. Her Wildcats are a serious contender for the provincial 3A title this season. The Richmond Youth Basketball League alumni also plays at the club level for VK Basketball that has appeared in the Junior NBA Canadian final the past two years. 

The age of athletes attending the camp range from 17 to 14. Radocaj is one of eight 2005-born players invited.

"We are excited to see the top nationally identified athletes compete and challenge themselves in our world class training environment,” said Denise Dignard, Director of Women's High Performance.  “As part of their long-term development, our staff will provide guidance on what they need to individually work on as we prepare for this summer's U17 and U18 teams." 

“We are looking forward to having coaches from different contexts involved and provide a valuable professional development opportunity for coaches working in the Podium Pathway.  We’re also excited to welcome back Sefu Bernard, Director of Player Development from the 2019 WNBA Champion Washington Mystics, to share his expertise in player development,”

This is the 20th assessment camp since 2011 and each have had a major impact on the growth of our women’s program, including: NextGen athletes, coaches, IST staff, and partners.   

Athletes born in 2003 or later will be assessed for participation on the U17 team, which will compete this summer at the FIBA U17 Women's World Cup 2020 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania from August 15-23, 2020.  Last summer, the team earned a silver medal at the at the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship 2019 in Aysen, Chile.