Chilean basketball starts its year in high hopes

SANTIAGO (Chile) -  The months of January and February were intense for the national Chilean youth teams. Time is of the essence and cannot be wasted, so the U-17 and U-17 women’s categories, along the U-14 men’s categories, jump started the year 2019 with corresponding calls to start preparing for the commitments they will face in the following months.

The first group to respond to the call was the U-16 women's shortlist, and the players concentrated in the Southern area of the Chilean nation. The camp took place from January 8 to 10 in Puerto Montt. The head coach of the national women's teams, Warren Espinosa, led the training sessions.

“We organized a module where 15 new players attended. All of them had the desire to learn and to get to know the philosophy behind the national women’s teams,” described Espinosa about the concentration that included players from the U-14 category, who will start to prepare toward the U-15 Sudamericano of 2020. “These were very intense sessions of defensive and offensive concepts, throws, transitions, and secondary attacks,” he assured.

2,000 kilometers and a 25-hour drive away from the Southern city, the next city that hosted the members of team Huasitas was Antofagasta. From January 17 to 22, 15 girls trained under the orders of a technical team led by Espinosa and his assistants, Enzo González and Juan Miranda. Joining them was the director of national women's teams’ processes, Denisse Sanhueza.

“It was one of the best concentrations we've had. Antofagasta welcomed us in the best way. We had to games to prepare. In the technical-tactical we added a lot of work, many different secondary attacks and special situations: side plays, back plays, free throws," said the Costa Rican coach.

Also, FIBA announced on Thursday, February 21, that Puerto Aysén would be the official site of the Americas U-16 Women’s Championship, so now the national team must prepare the best way they can, even more so because they will be hosting the tournament and will participate for the first time in history. The tournament will take place during the month of June and will grant four tickets to the FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup 2020.

 
Another shortlist that started 2019 with work was the U-17 women’s team. The group led by coach Javiera Novión got together from January 23 to 25, in Puerto Montt. 12 Chilean players participated in the 2019 Copa Puerto Montt, a tournament that united local teams and where they were victorious with a perfect record.

The U-17 women's team is preparing for the Sudamericano in its category. This edition will take place in Chilean territory in the second half of this year.

The U-14 men’s Sudamericano is one of the goals set by Chilean basketball for this year. In that sense, the national shortlist worked from January 22 to 30. Their practices in Santiago were led by the head coach of the national men’s team, Argentine Daniel Frola.

FIBA