Preview: Canada at the FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship
Canada's teen titans will soon be in action in the Brazilian city of Belem as they begin their campaign at this year's FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship.
Held since 2011, the biennial tournament sees the eight best international teams from North, Central and South America, with players under sixteen years of age, face off to try and claim what will be for them their first major basketball title.
Canada's team of twelve will be looking to either match or improve on their record of the previous edition in 2017, where they finished second. The defending champions, the USA, are the only team to ever win the tournament, and another team would make history if they were to better the five-time victors and claim the gold medal this time around.
Looking at the strength of this year's field, though, claiming victory in the tournament will not be an easy task, as all eight teams come from some of the continent's very best basketball stock who should all provide little room for error
Playing in Group B, Canada will first face Uruguay, then hosts Brazil on day two, before rounding off the preliminary stage with a final face-off against Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Group A sees the USA, Argentina, Mexico and the Dominican Republic in another tight four-way contest.
Once the group stage is completed, the teams will then be assigned to the knockout round depending on their records so far. Winners will advance while losers enter a classification round. The final will take place on June 9th.
Guiding the team in the tournament will be Kirby Schepp, the ten-year head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons and regular coach of Canada's youth teams, who in 2017 led the team to gold medal success at the Under-19 World Championships in Egypt.
The final roster for the tournament was announced by Canada Basketball as being: Enoch Boayke (from Brampton, Ontario), Jaden Clayton (Whitby, ON), Josiah Davis (Kitchener, ON), Caleb Houstan (Mississauga, ON), Luke Hunger (Montreal, QC), Dorile "DJ" Jackson (Mississauga, ON), Dylan Kalambay (Brampton, ON), Leonard Miller (Scarborough, ON), Ryan Nembhard (Aurora, ON), Shaedon Sharp (London, ON), Caelum Swanton-Rodger (Calgary, AB) and Jayden Webley (Calgary, AB).
More information on the tournament can be found on the official website, and be sure to check back here for regular updates on the team's progress in Belem.
Picture: FIBA.com
