The Australian Devils U25 Women’s team will compete in the 2019 Women’s U25 World Championships for the third time. In the past two Championships, they have fallen short at the final hurdle finishing with a silver medal in 2011 in St Catharines, Canada and in 2015 in Beijing, China.
Since 2015, the Devils team has been through a transitional phase, with only two members left from the team that competed in China. Included in the fresh new squad is 20-year-old Maryanne Latu.
Maryanne Latu, from Sydney, started playing wheelchair basketball when she was 15 years old and has received her first major international call-up to the Australian Devils this year.
Latu said, “I honestly feel honoured and bless to represent my country; not only that, but represent my family and my background.
“It is really important as a young player to participate in the U25 World Championships because it allows us to show the skills we have and our ability to play from a young age.”
Latu has experience playing club level in Australia’s National Women’s Wheelchair Basketball League (NWWBL) having been a part of the Sydney Metro Blues for several years. She explained how the Devils have been preparing for this year’s U25 World Championships:
“We have been having a number of training camps at the AIS in Canberra in the lead up to the Championships and we also have our own individual training as well.
“We’ve been working hard and our aim at the tournament is to work on getting that 1% right, such as picking, crossing, communications both on court and off. I’m really looking forward to playing at an international level.”
Australia will open their campaign at the 2019 Women’s U25 World Championship against Germany at 16.00 (local time) on Thursday 23rd May.
Image courtesy of the Basketball Australia.
