Welland’s basketball shooting star
In four short years, Lauren Audino has gone from garbage time to prime time.
The 15-year-old Welland resident, who first picked up a basketball at No Limit Performance’s Sunday night training sessions, was still learning to dribble and shoot when she tried out and made a Pelham Panthers travel team four years ago.
“I went from playing the last two minutes in games that we were blowing out teams to starting at the OBAs (Basketball Ontario championships),” the 6-foot-2 post player said.
Flash forward to the spring of 2019 and Audino is one of 12 hoopsters selected to represent Canada at the upcoming FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship 2019 from June 16-22 in Aysen, Chile. The FIBA championship will qualify the top four teams to the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2020.
The present member of the Caledon Cougars Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association team was invited to attend a week-long camp in Toronto last September and from there advanced to a five-day final tryout camp in Edmonton in March.
Three weeks later, she received an email from Basketball Canada informing her that she had made the team.
She heard the news when her mother texted her when she was in class.
“I told her stop being silly and stop kidding me but she told me that I had made it.”
It took a while for the news to sink in.
“I was just in shock and I couldn’t say anything because my whole life I wanted to represent my country and go to the Olympics,” Audino said, “I wanted to be a speed walker, but now this the first step in actually getting a chance to go to the Olympics.”
In Chile, Canada will compete in Group A with Brazil, Ecuador and Puerto Rico.
“I’m still having a hard time thinking about it,” she said. “It’s crazy that I am going to be playing against other countries.”
She can’t wait for the tournament to start.
“I’m looking to wearing Canada on my chest, singing the national anthem and knowing that I am representing my country,” the Oakville native said. “That is so crazy at this age.”
Her quest to represent Canada has required some sacrifices. She was home for a weekend in early May and won’t be back home again until the end of August.
She billets with a family in Caledon and from there she has weekend commitments with Team Canada, Team Ontario and Kia Nurse’s EYBL under-16 travel team out of Hamilton. She is into her third season with Team Ontario.
“I have always been OK with being away from home. I miss my bed and my dog but I know my family is always going to be there,” she said. “They are a call away.
“There are certain times when it’s hard but having my parents (Vince and Teresa) to talk to is really nice
Canadian head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul is excited to be travelling to Chile with the chosen 12.
“They have demonstrated a willingness to pursue excellence and have shown tremendous improvement every time we get the opportunity to train with them,” she said. “From December to March camp, we saw their commitment levels increase and as we head into this final camp before competition, we recognize their intentionality in bringing the characteristics that we hope embodies our team this summer; resilience, defensive disruption and team-oriented play.”
Canada earned a silver medal at the FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has won a medal in all five previous tournaments.
“The Canadian women have been very competitive at this tournament and we expect this group to continue that history,” Jean-Paul said.
Canada, which is currently ranked fourth in the world, opens the tournament June 16 versus Ecuador.
