Canada's women's basketballers final preparations for the Paris Olympics

Canada's top women basketballers are assembled for the Senior Women’s National Team training camp in Edmonton which began on May 20, with the camp's focus firmly on the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The camp, which took place over four days at the Saville Community Sports Centre on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, included 17 Senior Women’s National Team members, with an additional four joining them after the conclusion of the WNBA season. 

With the Canadian Senior Women's National roster, along with the country's Olympic fans and sports bettors eagerly anticipating Canada's first Group B match in Paris that took place on July 29  against the hosts, France, the unofficial home of Canadian Women's basketball in Edmonton saw training action again after regularly hosting the National camps since 2013.

After the government passed Bill C-218 in 2021, Canadian sports betting is legal in all 10 provinces for players aged 18 or 19 and above (depending on the province), according to Michael Austin. This means sports fans can legally wager on single bets at the Olympic Games for the first time in 2024. 

Players have access to the best sportsbooks, offering odds on several markets for the Canadian Senior Women’s National Basketball Team and all of Canada's other 2024 Olympic Games representatives.

With Canada's women ranked fifth in the FIBA World Rankings, the team is a distinct medal hopeful in Paris, and the Head Coach of the National Team, Víctor Lapeña, viewed the Edmonton training camp as an opportunity to fine-tuning his roster in preparation.

"We’re excited to continue our work preparing for Paris as we welcome back many familiar faces within our Senior Women’s National Team program as well as some new members to the Canada Basketball family,” Lapeña says. “Over several days of training together, we focused on improving every day and establishing an environment and team culture critical to our success at the Olympic Games.”

Bridget Carleton, Kia Nurse, Aaliyah Edwards and Laeticia Amihere also joined the 17 roster members in Edmonton for W’Hoop It Up, the Senior National Women's final training camp in Victoria, B.C., which took place from June 16 to 29, with the team facing Portugal in an exhibition game at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on June 26 where they secured a 91-65 victory. 

From there, they moved onto France for Canada's Olympic Games Group encounters with France, Australia and Nigeria alongside them in Group B.  Canada's world ranking and sound Olympic preparation should hopefully see the National Women included in the knock-out phase.

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