Guatemala's tireless work to make basketball grow

GUATEMALA CITY (Guatemala) - The national Guatemala U16 team won the 2019 edition of the COCABA Women's Championship. The tournament took place in the capital city of this Central American nation, and the team was able to qualify —after concluding the regional championship in the first place an undefeated, 4-0— to the Centrobasket U17 Championship, where they’ll continue the line of work of the country’s national team efforts. Standing again in a podium is, for Guatemala, one of their challenges for this year.

Women’s basketball in Guatemala is still on the rise and now, just a few days away from traveling to Puerto Rico to the Centrobasket U17 Women's Championship —which will take place from July 7 to 11 at the historic Roberto Clemente Coliseum—, the team that achieved the gold medal is training with the hopes of being able to be positioned among the best teams.

The team was captained by Natalie Larrañaga, who was the best scorer and had the most assists in the past U17 COCABA. She's one of the girls who show great promise for the next tournament, as does Lourdes Camacho, who has been living and studying for a year in Los Angeles, California, where she plays for Ribet Academy. Besides, both players have participated in the national team precisely in a Centrobasket in Puerto Rico, and also in Colombia, in the last edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games.

“We expect to qualify to the World Cup next year and represent Guatemala. The U16 Championship at home was a unique experience that allowed us to show why we prepare. Representing my country as captain allowed me to grow as a person and player. We're more than a team: we're a great family, and we want to make our country proud,” said FIBA.basketball Natalie Larrañaga, a 17-year-old player who covers the point guard and small forward positions.

By the hand of Cuban coach Adonis Navarro, the team will try to qualify to the next phase and get a place in the podium. Group A includes Puerto Rico, El Salvador and Bahamas, and on the other side are Barbados, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic for possible matches.

The three best teams of the Centrobasket U17 Championships will qualify to the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2020.

“We continue to get ready for Centrobasket. It wasn't easy, we had to sacrifice many things; friends, family, and personal things. We're preparing well and if we do things as we do in our training, we’ll have positive results. We’ll play against Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and the Bahamas. Our goal is to qualify to the Americas Championships next year,” added Larrañaga.

“For Guatemala, this will be a tournament with many challenges and a lot of expectations. We were Central American champions this year. We've trained hard and with players like Lourdes Camacho, who flew in from the United States. Guatemala has a strong possibility of qualifying to next year’s qualifying round. The game against Puerto Rico is one of the reasons that we must go there. There are already players with Centrobasket experience and that's important to get the qualification,” said Omar Morales, Technical Manager of the Guatemala National Basketball Federation (FNBG, for its Spanish acronym).

“They play together, they're quick and they have a good technical direction. They're a great group that has been working for some time to achieve the defined goals,” he added.

Thanks to the training conditions provided by the FNBG, the national senior women’s team recovered the Central American title in Managua, in 2017, after eleven years of being out of the Olympic cycle.

Now, coach Adonis Navarro will travel with 12 players in search of this new feat. This technical team reflects the importance of grouping so many players from all parts of the country in the national team. Now, the fruits of the Federation's labor can be witnessed.

The FNBG’s paramount goal is this: focusing on youth national teams in the women’s and men’s categories to foster the growth of Guatemalan basketball and for young people to their national basketball to the world stage.

FIBA