Canada in Group A for 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship for men

Canada Basketball’s Cadet Men’s National Team (CMNT) is one of eight teams that will compete at the 2011 FIBA U16 Americas Championship for Men. In a live draw yesterday in the host city of Cancun, Mexico, it was determined that Canada will be competing in ‘Group A’, and will take on Chile, Mexico and a team still to be determined from the CONCENCABA Championship.

The 2^nd FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Men will take place from June 21 – 25. The top three finishers from Cancun will qualify to compete in Lithuania next summer in the 2012 U17 World Championship.

The draw took place in the presence of the top representative of FIBA Americas and the local organizing committee. The draw was in the authority of the Technical Director of FIBA Americas, Mr. Anibal Garcia.

Results of the draw:
Group A: Chile, Mexico, Canada, CONCENCABA Team TBD
Group B: Argentina; Brazil, USA, CONCENCABA Team TBD

For more information, please visit http://www.fibaamericas.com.

The Cadets begin play on June 21 against Chile, then play the team from CONCENCABA on the following day, and wrap up the preliminary round on June 23 versus Mexico.  The top two finishers from each group move on to the semi-finals.

In the inaugural FIBA Americas U16 Championship in 2009, Canada defeated Venezuela to capture the bronze medal and qualify for the 2010 U17 FIBA World Championship in Hamburg, Germany, where they won bronze.

Preparations for the tournament have already begun with the open assessment camp on May 19 and the tryout by invitation camp that ran from May 20 – 23 at Ryerson University in Toronto. Preparations continue with the training camp resuming on June 12 – 16 at Ryerson University.  Following training camp the team will travel to Mexico early to train and participation in exhibition games and scrimmages.