TUR - U17 tournament more than a sports competition for Turkish team

RODEZ (2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) - All eyes will be on Turkey later this summer when the country hosts the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the biggest sporting event ever held in the country.

There is great hope and anticipation that the tournament will help in promoting the game of basketball and strike a chord with the teenage population.

And while they look forward to seeing the premiere international men's basketball competition take over their country in just over a month's time, for now Turkey's U17 women's national team is focused on a tournament of their own as they compete in the first-ever FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

"This world championship is very important for us. It is an honour for our players to be here and it's a chance to meet with other players from different countries," said team manager Gigdem Oktay.

Turkey qualified for this event by virtue of finishing fifth in last year's U16 European Championship. Not a bad result for a country where basketball is mainly played by men and boys.

"There are 70,000 basketball players in Turkey, but only 8,000 are women. The practice of basketball in our country is often done by men," Oktay stated.

But the Turks hope a good performance by their team in Rodez and Toulouse can change that.

"This competition is a very good opportunity to develop basketball and to prepare the future of our national team. So this is not just a sports competition for us, it's more than that," Oktay added.

Click here to visit the Turkey U17 women's team page.

Quick facts about Turkey
Turkey has a population of 72.5 million people.
People aged 15 to 64 account for 67 percent of the total population.
Turkey played host to the 2001 EuroBasket and the 2005 EuroBasket Women.

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