Following a successful weekend of performances at the BT Paralympic World Cup, the British Paralympic Association has announced the wheelchair basketballers who will comprise the women’s team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Clare Strange is amongst those who have been picked. She is one of the most experienced members of the team and for whom London will be her fourth Paralympic Games, and she will also be joined by Helen Freeman, who has been training in the USA as part of her preparations for the Paralympic Games.
The squad is bolstered by a number of young and up-and-coming players including Amy Conroy, Laurie Williams and Maddie Thompson, all of whom were recruited after Beijing and have been regular team members since 2009.
The presence of these players means that the team for London has an average age of just 25.
Head Coach for the women’s squad, Garry Peel said, “It was a really tough decision and we left it right until the last game at the BT Paralympic World Cup on Saturday to make the final choice.
“It’s really tough when you have 15 girls who all deserve to go but we can only take 12 and we feel we’ve got the right 12.”
GB’s Louise Sudgen said, “Congratulations to everyone who has been selected, to be honest I don’t envy Garry at all as the selection he made is really difficult.
“We’ve got 15 really strong players and it’s a shame we couldn’t take everyone but I believe we’ve got the strongest squad going into the games and really looking forward to going out and showing the home nation what we can do.”
The women’s team finished fourth at this weekend’s Paralympic World Cup.
Full team
Sarah McPhee (Born: Westminster, Lives: Preston, Lancashire)
Laurie Williams (Born: Wythenshawe, Lives: Altrincham, Cheshire)
Clare Strange (Born: High Wycombe, Lives: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire)
Louise Sugden (Born: Reading, Lives: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire)
Helen Turner (Born: London, Lives: Chobham, Surrey)
Helen Freeman (Born: Watford, Lives: Watford, Hertfordshire)
Natasha Davies (Epsom, Surrey)
Sarah Grady (Born: Watford, Lives: Stretham, Cambridgeshire)
Judith Hamer (Born: Plymouth, Lives: Exeter, Devon)
Maddie Thompson (Born: Chesterfield, Lives: Hope Valley, Yorkshire)
Caroline Maclean (Born: Newmarket, Lives: Haverhill, Suffolk)
Amy Conroy (Born: Norwich, Lives: Norwich)
Lizzie Flint, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
