The Gliders have touched down in Melbourne, with a squad coming together for a key selection camp ahead of June’s Repechage tournament in Spain.
The camp marks the first major on-court touchpoint for the wider group as preparations ramp up towards a must-win Repechage, with a place at the World Championships in Ottawa on the line.
Head Coach Jeremy Synot said the week would centre around embedding the team’s style of play, while continuing to evolve the foundations already laid within the program.
“The key focus is for the group to become familiar and confident with the style of play we’re putting forward,” Synot said.
“We want to be performing and winning against the best teams in the world, so building on what we’ve done previously, with some small shifts and tweaks, is a priority.
“At the same time, we’ll continue the great work of the playing group as we go deeper into our culture as Gliders and uphold the values we’ve set, while bringing new athletes into that environment.”
The Melbourne camp follows the Gliders’ most recent international outing in Osaka earlier this year, where a series of narrow losses provided valuable learning opportunities for the group.
Synot said growth from that tournament would be a key area of focus this week.
“From a basketball perspective, we want to see general improvement across a number of areas coming out of Osaka,” he said.
“The athletes have been working hard on the feedback they received, and we’ll be looking closely to ensure we’ve learned from those results.”
With selection for the Repechage on the line, competition within the squad is expected to be fierce.
“We’re under no illusions – we need to win at Repechage to qualify for the World Championships,” Synot said.
