The Sky Sport Tall Ferns Selection Camp begins at Bruce Pulman Arena on Thursday and we wish to congratulate the following Harbour athletes that have been named to attend.

Olivia Bell, Tayla Dalton, Ella Fotu, Ashleigh Kelman-Poto and Emme Shearer have been selected amongst the 18 athletes attending the 5-day camp.

Head Coach Guy Molloy outlined that the goal for the Tall Ferns is to qualify for the 12-team FIBA Women’s World Cup being held in Sydney in September and October 2022.

“There is a  two-step qualification for Sydney with the Asia Cup in September/October 2021 the first qualifying event that we need to select a team for,” said Molloy.

For Olivia it will be her first time at a Tall Ferns Camp. She was a member of the 2020 Harbour Breeze NBL Championship winning team and impressed selectors with her mobility and strong rebounding game.

Olivia returned from the States last year after playing three-years college basketball.

Ashleigh were also a member of the successful Breeze team last year. She was named NBL Grand Final MVP  after an 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 steals haul in the final against Waikato Wizards. She was also named to the NBL All-Star Five.

Tayla and Emme have recently returned to NZ after successful college freshman seasons in the States.

Tayla played all 26 games for St Mary’s College, California averaging 17 minutes per game and was second on the team in steals (26). 

However she hasn’t had the ideal lead up to the Camp only leaving MIQ 24-hours prior to its commencement. 

Fortunately Emme, named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team after finishing fourth on the University of Portland team for scoring (6.5ppg) and third in steals (1.5spg), has been back in NZ for a few weeks.

Ella has unfortunately had to withdraw from the camp due to work commitments but still remains available for selection.

This is the second Selection Camp that Molloy has overseen. The first was held on the Gold Coast in March, before the travel bubble with Australia was introduced, and there were also a number of former Harbour players invited to that camp. Brooke Blair, Micaela Cocks and Penina Davidson were in attendance making eight Harbour players in total that have earned selection.

Full list of invited players here: https://bit.ly/3fKji9C