USA Basketball Awarded 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women

Feb. 3, 2010 - Colorado Springs, Colo.

FIBA Americas and USA Basketball today announced that the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be the site of the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women that will take place June 23-27.

The 2010 U18 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will mark the second time USA Basketball has hosted the event in Colorado Springs. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women also was played at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in 2006.

'USA Basketball is excited to again take on the responsibility of hosting the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. This is a great event that will feature many of the best young players from our zone,' said Jim Tooley, CEO/Executive Director of USA Basketball. 'The fact that FIBA Americas has again awarded this tournament to USA Basketball demonstrates how successful the event was when we hosted it in 2006. I know we will stage a first-class event, and the Colorado Springs community is in for another exciting competition.'

The 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women will feature eight national teams, including the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The top four finishing squads will earn qualifying berths for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women. Only athletes 18-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1992) are eligible.

'We want to thank USA Basketball and the U.S. Olympic Committee for coming forward to organize this event that features the top U18 women athletes in our region,' said FIBA Americas Secretary General, Alberto Garcia. 'The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs has magnificent installations to meet all the requirements of the participating teams. USA Basketball gives a lot of importance to the lower basketball divisions and people like Carol Callan, (USA Basketball) Director of Women's National Team Program, have helped to elevate women's basketball to another level.

'Our past experience in 2006 in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Olympic Training Center was great for all of us, especially the athletes who enjoyed training and being in such a great facility,' Garcia added. 'We are looking forward to coming back with a new group of players that will have even a better experience this time around.'

The tournament format will see the eight teams divided into two preliminary round groups consisting of four teams each. Preliminary round play will be held June 23-25, and each team will play the other three teams in its preliminary group. The top two teams in each preliminary round group will then advance to the Saturday, June 26, medal round semifinals and play for 1st-4th places. Teams placed third and fourth in each preliminary round group will advance to the consolation semifinals and play for 5th-8th places. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women gold and bronze medal games, and the 5th/6th place and 7th/8th place games, will be conducted on Sunday, June 27.

USA Basketball will conduct trials for the USA U18 Women's Team June 8-11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, with approximately 30 U.S. hopefuls participating. Following selection of finalists for the USA U18 squad, the Americans will break until just prior to the start of the tournament when they reassemble to being final preparations.

Selection of the USA U18 Team will be made by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe of the NCAA and also consists of Joanne Boyle (University of California head coach), Coquese Washington (Penn State University head coach), Connie Yori (University of Nebraska head coach), and athlete representative Beth Cunningham (1999 USA Pan American Games Team member).

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, the FIBA Americas U18 Championship was held every four years from 1988 through 2004, and is now contested every other year. USA women's teams boast of a remarkable 33-2 overall record in the U18/junior qualifiers and have won gold in 1988, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2008, while capturing silver medals in 1992 and 1996.

Sites of prior FIBA Americas U18 Championships for Women include: Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008; Colorado Springs in 2006; Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, in 2004; Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 2000; Chetumal, Mexico, in 1996; Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1992; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1988.

Some of the top players who have represented the United States in the past U18 tournaments include: Jayne Appel (2006); Alana Beard (2000); Tamika Catchings (1996); Tina Charles (2006); Marissa Coleman (2004); Skylar Diggins (2008); Stacey Ford (1998); Sonja Henning (1988); Niesa Johnson (1992); Rebecca Lobo (1992); Maya Moore (2006); Nneka Ogwumike (2008); Candace Parker (2004); Courtney Paris (2004); Cappie Pondexter (2000); Nicole Powell (2000); Lynn Pride (1996); Diana Taurasi (2000); Candice Wiggins (2004); and Tiffany Woosley (1992).

The awarding of the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women to USA Basketball adds to a long list of competitions the national governing body has held in the United States. USA Basketball, which will also host the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in San Antonio, Texas, has hosted the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship for Men (Olympic qualifier) (Las Vegas, Nev.); 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men (San Antonio, Texas); 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women (Colorado Springs, Colo.); 2002 FIBA Men's World Championship (Indianapolis, Ind.); 1992 FIBA Americas Tournament of the Americas / Olympic Qualifier (Portland, Ore.); 1985 FIBA Women's Junior World Championship (Colorado Springs, Colo.); and the first COPABA Women's Junior World Championship in 1977 (Squaw Valley, Calif.).

USA Basketball

Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the United States by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

USA Basketball is governed by a 10-member Board of Directors, who are appointed and elected by active members. Jerry Colangelo serves as Chairman of USA Basketball for the 2000-2012 term. Serving since January 2001 as USA Basketball's CEO/Executive Director is Jim Tooley, who has been with USA Basketball since 1993.

USA Basketball is an organization made up of organizations. There are five member categories - Professional; Collegiate; Scholastic; Youth; and Associate. All told, 25 organizations are members of USA Basketball.

FIBA Americas

With its offices located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, FIBA Americas (Pan-American Basketball Confederation) is one of FIBA's (International Basketball Federation) five regional zones. A non-profit organization that was founded October 11, 1975 in Mexico City, Horacio Muratore (Argentina) is the current President and Alberto Andres Garcia (Puerto Rico) serves as Secretary General.

FIBA Americas itself consists of 44 national federations and it is divided into three zones: 1- North America (Canada and the United States); 2-Central America and the Caribbean, which is divided into two organizations, which are: Caribbean (consisting of Antigua & Barbuda, Antillas Holandesas, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Dominique, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, St. Kitts, & Nevis, St. Marteen, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos, U.S. Virgin Islands) and Central America (consisting of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama), these national federations, in turn, are members of the Central American and Caribbean Confederations of Basketball (CONCECABA); 3- South America consists of 10 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Equator, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and they are members of the South American Basketball Confederation (ABASU).

FIBA Americas organizes and controls, in coordination with FIBA, all men's and women's basketball tournaments in the Americas zone, while also assigning referees for the competitions. For more information about FIBA Americas, visit www.fibaamericas.com.