Alarie's USA Basketball Journey: U-19 World Cup Training Camp

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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Let's follow rising sophomore Bella Alarie's journey with the USA Basketball U-19 2017 FIBA World Cup Team!

Following a two-week training camp from July 7th-21st, the 12-member U-19 National Team will participate in the 2017 FIBA U-19 World Cup from July 22-30 in Udine and Cividale del Fruili, Italy. The U-19 squad is coached by Suzie McConnell-Serio of Pittsburgh. She is assisted by Kamie Ethridge from Northern Colorado and Charlotte Smith from Elon.

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, FIBA changed the names of its age-based world championships in 2005 to reflect the age of eligibility, and recently updated the names of all of its world championships to world cups. The tournament was held every four years starting in 1985. FIBA in 2005 modified its calendar and now conducts the U19 World Cup every other year. USA women's teams are 73-12 in U19/Junior World Cups, capturing a sixth-consecutive gold in 2015 with a 7-0 record.

USA was placed in Group A and will open against Mali on July 22, face China on July 23 and cap the preliminary round against host Italy on July 25. Following the preliminary round, teams will be seeded according to group play, and all participating teams will advance to the July 26 round of 16. Winners will advance to the July 28 medal quarterfinals, while the remaining teams will continue playing out for classification. The medal semifinals will be held July 29, and the gold and bronze medal games are slated for July 30.

Here's how Bella's journey has gone so far…

Hi Tiger family!

I'm writing this blog post after spending five days at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. As some of you may know, I am playing for the USA Women's U19 World Cup team this summer, and we're currently training and preparing for the World Cup which is taking place in Italy at the end of this month. The journey has been incredible so far, and I'm excited to share some of my experiences with you!

On the first day, my teammates and I flew in to Denver from all over the country and were transported to the Olympic Training Center where we got our gear geared up and checked into our dorm rooms. That night, the whole team and coaching staff enjoyed a delicious dinner at a French restaurant, where we all caught up and talked about the team and our expectations for the month.

The next morning, the daily training routine began. Every morning we wake up, grab breakfast, practice for two hours, eat lunch, relax and nap, practice/scrimmage, eat dinner, and then hang out in the dorms until lights out. Sprinkled in, we've had a photo shoot, interviews, and other activities that help us connect with one another.

One night we cooked dinner as a team. What better way to bond as a team than to plan all the courses, maneuver the grocery store, fit twelve girls and five coaches into a kitchen, and share a delicious meal together! We enjoyed homemade bruschetta, pasta with chicken and shrimp, green beans, and my group was in charge of dessert. We made cookie brownies and served it with Italian gelato! After dinner, we all drove over to the movie theater where we watched Wonder Woman.

In practice, the team does a lot of conditioning to adjust to the altitude (over 6,000 feet above sea level). Training in the mountains makes aerobic activities are more difficult. Also, we run through our sets and learn to play with a 24-second shot clock (as opposed to the 30 seconds we are accustomed to in college). At night, we scrimmage a group of men from Colorado, which is quite challenging, but very fun and productive. Every day we see improvement as a team, and that's important because we only have about a week here in Colorado to together as a team and be completely ready to compete for gold.

I will keep working hard and will never take for granted the trust that has been placed in me to represent my country and Princeton!

I'll be back with a post soon and will keep you all updated. Go USA!

Bella

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