(Ottawa, Ont.) Wheelchair Basketball Canada is pleased to release the list of 12 athletes selected to the 2014 Canadian Senior Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team that is gearing up to compete on home soil for a seventh consecutive podium finish when Canada hosts the 2014 World Championship June 20-28 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont.
The tournament will be the largest women’s world championship in history featuring the top 12 team in the world. Host Canada is the defending bronze medalist.
The 12 athletes named to Team Canada are: (athletes’ city of residence indicated / returning athletes denoted with a *)
- Amanda Yan (Vancouver, B.C.) *
- Cindy Ouellet (Quebec, Que.) *
- Darda Sales (London, Ont.)
- Elaine Allard (St. Eustache, Que.) *
- Erica Gavel (Prince Albert, Sask.)
- Katie Harnock (Elmira, Ont.) *
- Jamey Jewells (Donkin, N.S.) *
- Janet McLachlan (Vancouver, B.C.) *
- Maude Jacques (Ste-Catherine, Que.) *
- Melanie Hawtin (Oakville, Ont.)
- Tamara Steeves (Mississauga, Ont.) *
- Tracey Ferguson (Richmond Hill, Ont.) *
Head Coach: Bill Johnson (Winnipeg, Man.)
Assistant Coach: Michael Broughton (Toronto, Ont.)
“We are very excited with the group of athletes that will be representing Canada at the World Championship this summer at home in Canada. The selection process was made challenging by the outstanding group of athletes in attendance. We have a great bunch of young athletes, in addition to a returning core of talented veterans. I feel this team will represent Canada well this year, and will be an exciting group as we work toward the 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medal,” said Team Canada Head Coach Bill Johnson.
The 2014 Team Canada roster features nine returning players and eights athletes with Paralympic experience including Tracey Ferguson, of Holland Landing, Ont., who is Canada’s most decorated player having competed in six Paralympic Games and four World Championships – winning six consecutive gold medals and two bronze medals. Five players – Allard, Ferguson, Harnock, McLachlan, and Ouellet – were part of the Canadian team that won bronze at the last World Championship in 2010.
Three new players were named to team for the first time: Gavel, Hawtin, and Sales.
The selections for Canada’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team came following an annual, weeklong selection camp at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas that included 21 of the top players in the country.
About Team Canada
The Senior Women’s National Team is amongst the most successful and dominant teams in Canadian amateur sport history. The team captured three consecutive Paralympic gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000, and bronze in 2004. They have also reached the podium at six consecutive World Championships.