Brydens Flames captain and starting shooting guard Katie-Rae Ebzery has been selected in the recently named Jayco Australian Opals squad. The Opals have named a 27 player squad, in which a maximum of 20 will participate in the four selection camps from March through to July. These camps will serve as the Opals’ final selection camps before picking the team to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The first of the four camps will be held in Canberra from March 29th–April 3rd at the newly refurbished Centre of Excellence. The next three camps will be held in late April in Gosford, late June in Canberra and early July in the Gold Coast.
Ebzery’s selection comes off the back of a stellar 2015/16 WNBL season where she finished in the league’s top 10 in scoring and assists, whilst picking up the team’s Most Valuable Player award for a second straight year.
Katie’s selection is a just reward for all the hard work she has put in on the court. She has developed her game over her years at the Flames after joining the team from the AIS, transforming her status from a young talent into one of the best players in the WNBL. This can be reflected in some of the milestones she was able to achieve at the club this season, reaching 2000 points and 500 rebounds in her time at the Flames.
Ebzery will however have her work cut out for her at the Opals camps, as the team is loided with talent and international experience.
2014 World Bronze medalist standout Marianna Tolo is a notable inclusion to the squad, along with WNBA centre Liz Cambage. Lauren Mansfield and recently naturalised Kelsey Griffin have been named in the Opals squad for the first time. Experienced WNBA and international players Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Erin Phillips are back for the first two camps and are poised to be key contributors to the team. WNBL guns Suzy Batkovic, Sara Blicavs and former Flames guard Leilani Mitchell have also been selected in the squad. Whilst Brendan Joyce will again coach the team, and will be assisted by former Sydney Kings coach Damian Cotter.
Despite the squad’s depth, Katie will fall back on her Opals experience to help her crack the team. She played with the Opals in a two-game series against New Zealand in August last year which served as qualifying games for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Opals qualified by winning both games in which Katie had averages of 6 points in 19 minutes of play.
We wish Katie all the best in her bid to make the 2016 Rio Olympics!
