Great Britain women's wheelchair basketball team named

With just 10 weeks to go until the start of this summer’s European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, Great Britain women’s Head Coach Miles Thompson has named his team for the forthcoming tournament.

The University of Worcester Arena will host both the men’s and women’s European Championships during August and September; 10 days of action which will see the British teams do battle with their continental counterparts for the title of European champion, and to secure a crucial qualifying place for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

The European Wheelchair Basketball Championships forms part of UK Sport’s National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio events series which supports the nation’s athletes in their preparation and qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Great Britain’s women’s team will be looking to build on the bronze medal which they won in the Frankfurt European Championships in 2013, as they look to negotiate the opening round-robin stage and, in the latter rounds, secure one of four qualification slots for Rio.

The 12 players named by Head Coach Miles Thompson and Assistant Coach Mathew Foden are as follows:

• Sophie Carrigill, (1.0)

• Clare Griffiths (nee Strange), (1.5)

• Charlotte Moore (1.5)

• Leah Evans (2.5)

• Joy Haizelden (2.5)

• Laurie Williams (2.5)

• Jordanna Bartlett (3.0)

• Robyn Love (3.5)

• Amy Conroy (4.0)

• Helen Freeman (4.0)

• Judith Hamer (4.0)

• Katie Morrow (4.5)

Commenting on his selection, Miles Thompson said: “I’m excited about this team: it’s full of potential and it’s fun to work with potential. It’s filled with some seasoned players and some emerging players that I think are really on the cusp of finding their game, finding out who they are as basketball players – and that journey’s always exciting. The squad’s filled with talent.

“Our goal for the European Championships is to do something that hasn’t been done and that’s get to the final. Obviously you have to go through the Germans and the Dutch who are the benchmark – we want to be the benchmark.”

To deliver the event, British Wheelchair Basketball (BWB) has also teamed up with key partner the University of Worcester, with invaluable support from the Worcestershire County Council, Worcester City Council and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Further information on the Championships, and details of how to purchase tickets, can be found here.

The Great Britain women’s European Championship team will be in action at the Continental Clash this week at the University of Worcester Arena.