Audino and Team Canada mine silver
Lauren Audino’s first chance to represent Canada was successful and memorable.
The 15-year-old Welland resident helped Canada capture a silver medal at the FIBA U16 Women’s Championship in Aysen, Chile, and, in the process, she was immersed in international basketball and other cultures.
“The feeling that you’re representing your country is incredible and even now when I see a Canadian flag on the street I will think that that was me,” the 6-foot-2 post player said. “I got to represent my whole country so it was really awesome.”
Her first taste of the Team Canada experience in Chile came in a pre-tournament game versus the United States.
“There weren’t even any fans there but I was wearing my Canada jersey and we were playing against another country which was crazy to me.”
Things intensified once the tournament started.
“I really felt it in the games when there were all the people and all the cameras there,” she said. “We had some of the parents come from Canada and they were waving the flags. When we linked our arms together and they played the national anthem, it was just amazing.”
Canada went 3-0 in pool play, defeating Ecuador 79-33, Brazil 78-39 and Puerto Rico 83-40 before advancing to the semifinals with a 61-15 romp over El Salvador. Canada then beat Chile 50-38 in the semifinals before getting thumped 87-37 by the United States.
For Audino, who averaged 6.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the tournament, her best game came against Brazil. She had 12 points and seven rebounds and was recognized as Canada’s player of the game.
“Obviously the Brazil game was a really good game not only for myself but the team,” she said. “We went into that game thinking we were going to have some very tough competition. They were very energetic so we had to harness our energy against them.”
Canada’s most memorable performance came versus Chile and its hometown fans.
“We were pretty much neck-and-neck with them the whole time and at halftime our coaches told us that they wanted us more than we did,” he said. “We had to pick ourselves up and tell ourselves that we were getting to the gold medal game.
“It was mentally being able to push through that barrier weighing us down.”
Playing the Americans was an eye-opening experience for the former Welland Warriors and Pelham Panthers travel player.
“That wasn’t the best game that we ever played but they were a phenomenal team,” she said. “The U.S. played way better than us in that game and they deserved it, but at the end we wanted to finish our last game together how we wanted to finish it. We didn’t give up even though the score might have seemed like it because we lost by 50.
The squad had another players-only meeting at the half and vowed to keep fighting.
“We were all proud of how we finished.”
The biggest news for Canada out of the tournament was that its top four result qualified it for next year’s FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
“That was one of our first goals that we wanted to hit,” Audino said. “It was so funny after that game that our coach told us he wanted us to take a picture with the mascot. We went to this room and there was a party being thrown for us. It was awesome. That really took us by surprise.”
She isn’t taking anything for granted and plans to work hard in her quest to be named to Canada’s squad for the U17 World Cup next year.
“I am really hoping that I will be able to represent my country again because it was such an amazing experience.”
The process will start with a tryout camp in December.
Away from the basketball court, Audino enjoyed all that Chile had to offer.
“It was amazing and the scenery itself was beautiful,” she said. “Where we were was in a bit of a poorer area but the hotel overlooked a little lake and we were surrounded by the mountains.
“Every morning when we got up we had such a gorgeous view.”
She also enjoyed mingling the Chileans.
“The people in the little community where we were would all come out to watch our games and we had lots of younger kids that would come after games and get us to sign their clothes and take pictures with them,” she said. “For me, that was my favourite part because I love getting to see little kids because they are so cute. They couldn’t speak English so they would be using hand gestures to get us to take pictures with them. It was so adorable.”
Audino had a short break from basketball before leaving this past Tuesday for a training camp in Port Perry with Team Ontario in advance of a tournament in Washington, D.C., and the national championships.
She will be back home Aug. 12 before heading to another training camp at the end of the month.
“I have a week to enjoy summer but that’s OK,” she said. “I love basketball and I love all my teammates so it is enjoyable for me.”
This fall and winter, she will be playing Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association hoops with Lincoln Prep. She ended last season with Caledon but wanted to be closer to home.
