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Team USA announces new women’s national team expansion

By Bria Felicien

ANTIBES, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 17: Head Coach Dawn Staley of the USA National Team coaches during the game against the France National Team on September 17, 2018 at the Azur Arena in Antibes, France. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE. (Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/NBAE via Getty Images)
ANTIBES, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 17: Head Coach Dawn Staley of the USA National Team coaches during the game against the France National Team on September 17, 2018 at the Azur Arena in Antibes, France. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE. (Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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USA Basketball announced a new program designed to train and showcase its women’s national team ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The program will feature five training camps between November 2019 and April 2020 that focus both training and promoting the players across the United States.

Eight athletes have already committed to participating in all five camps: Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Elena Delle Donne, Nneka Ogwumike, A’ja Wilson, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray.

“I’m very excited about this program,” Bird said in the press release. “It’s the right amount of training so we can gear up and get ready for the Olympics, and also it gives us the right amount of exposure where we can really create some momentum heading into the Olympics.”

The national team will be coached by Dawn Staley and assisted by Dan Hughes, Cheryl Reeve  and Jennifer Rizzotti. The United States has already qualified for the Olympics, but the squad is looking to win its seventh in a row.

The November to April window is the offseason for WNBA players, but usually the time when they are usually overseas competing in leagues with higher salaries. The increased training would allow players to become more cohesive as a unit ahead of the games.

“The fact that resources are being put into a much needed area in one, helping women stay closer to home with their families, two, we get to prep for the 2020 Olympic Games and three, it’s an opportunity to be leaders in an area which has been lacking for some time,” Staley said in the press release. “This program gives us an opportunity to keep a core group of players together and to build chemistry and cohesion while some of our other players who are in the pool are overseas playing. So, any little bit counts.”

The rest of the 2019-20 national team player pool includes: Seimone Augustus, Tina Charles, Layshia Clarendon, Napheesa Collier, Diamond DeShields, Stefanie Dolson, Asia Durr, Allisha Gray, Brittney Griner, Tiffany Hayes, Jewell Loyd, Kayla McBride, Angel McCoughtry, Kelsey Mitchell, Tiffany Mitchell, Maya Moore, Chiney Ogwumike , Kelsey Plum, Katie Lou Samuelson, Odyssey Sims, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Sykes, Jasmine Thomas, Morgan Tuck, Sydney Wiese and Elizabeth Williams.

The national team will compete against select NCAA Division I schools in exhibition games, which the team has done before other Olympics. The college teams and training camp locations have not been announced, but select national team members will compete in the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup in late September. Participating players haven’t been announced yet, due to the closeness of the WNBA Finals.

“USA Basketball believes that this new Women’s National Team initiative will help continue to build awareness of the great legacy of the  USA Women’s National Team,” USA Basketball Chairman Martin Dempsey said in the press release.  “We owe it to the next generation of young girls and young women who hope to represent their country in the USA Basketball uniform someday to keep these incredibly accomplished athletes and great role models at home and among them.”

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