Women’s 3x3 basketball captain Connie Poletti is racking up the air miles, and soon hopefully the three pointers, as she leaves on her third consecutive trip to China for the sport’s tertiary world cup next week.
Women’s 3x3 basketball captain Connie Poletti is racking up the air miles, and soon hopefully the three pointers, as she leaves on her third consecutive trip to China for the sport’s tertiary world cup next week.
She is the only player of the four woman team, which includes Lucy Brown, Rosalia Samia, and Ajiah Pepe, completing the triple, but conversely she is waiting to see what sort of impact a tournament rookie can make on court.
“I would say both Lucy and Ajiah’s ability to shoot from outside makes life a lot easier for our team.
However, she said Rosalia is in her first year at university but is already dominating in New Zealand.
“We are excited to see how she goes this tournament.”
Their win in the qualifying tournament to book their tickets to China was back in April but the team are well prepared and Connie is confident the team can hit the ground running.
“We have an extremely competent team to do and the goal is to get a few wins under the belt and see where the tournament takes us.”
The team has even been doing altitude training to give them an edge and have new coach Shea Crotty on board, who until recently was on the court herself.
“I am looking forward to playing against some amazing athletes from all over the world. It is always an epic tournament and great opportunity to immerse ourselves in a different culture,” Connie said.
She wants the team to be competitive in every game, but to have fun too.
The 2019 edition of the University World Cup - 3x3 will be held in Xiamen, China, for a fifth year in a row from 31 October to 3 November. Good luck for the tournament, we’ll be following your progress.