Chasing Olympic Dreams: Meet the team!

Updates on the last week of training

The team has been together in Miami for a week, time is flying! I've been welcomed by the girls, and I've really enjoyed getting to know them. I've listen to more reggaeton music in the last week than in my whole life combined, my brain is now defaulting to Spanish, and I've been asked to explain the pronunciation in English of "beach" versus "bitch" (still not sure the team has that one down yet lol!). Being in Miami has been a mixed cultural experience; we shop at US stores and see English road signs, but everywhere we go we are speaking Spanish with others (most people are fluent in both languages) and I'm surrounded by Chilean culture via teammates and fans!
Our daily schedule consists of practice in the morning, shopping, resting, or going to the beach in the afternoon, and playing games in the evenings. We have been implementing our offensive sets and focusing on help-side defense. In the games we've been able to play, these are the biggest highlights:

We won our first 2 games. In the 2nd game against a conglomerate of college players, we started the game up 21-2. We had great energy and were running the floor and passing well. We were up by 23 points in the fourth quarter, and allowed the other team to make a run at the end. We are learning to play all 40 minutes strong!
The point guard from another team asked how long we've been playing together, and when I said it had been 4 days with everyone present, she was shocked and said "you guys look like you've been playing together for years." I agree, at times we are really meshing well, and I'm exited to see how far we can go in the coming weeks and months!

On Monday I had my first live radio interview on Radio UChile. Check it out by clicking play below!

Facts about the team

12 players and 2 coaches.
Teammates range in age from 17 to 30, average age is 24.
Height ranges from 5'2"-6'4", average is 5'9" (about my height).
1 professional player (Ziomara Morrison)

Meet the team

Angella Yañez (My roomie!)

Height: 5'6"
Age: 28
Position: Guard
Hometown: Ovalle, Región of Coquimbo
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 12/1
Random Fact: Has dog named Laika and is a Crossfit personal trainer.

Catalina Abuyeres

Height: 6'1"
Age: 18
Position: Center
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 10/5
Random fact: Her Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa, and Aunt all played for the national Chilean bball team.
Favorite Quote: "If you see me fight with a lion, pray for the lion."

Milena Koljanin

Height: 6'1"
Age: 19
Position: Forward
Hometown: Las Condes, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 6/5
Random fact: Was a figure skater from age 6-13. She also volunteers to at soup kitchens to help feed the poor.
Favorite Quote: "Carpe diem."

Ziomara Morrison

Height: 6'4"
Age: 26
Position: Center
Hometown: Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 15/5.
Other bball background: Plays professional basketball in Turkey for Besiktas. Played 1 season in the WNBA for the San Antonio Silver Stars. Has been a professional player since she was 19.
Random fact: Speaks Spanish, Italian, and English.

Nisse Silva

Height: 5'2"
Age: 26
Position: Point Guard
Hometown: La Cisterna, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 18/4.
Random fact: Played professional soccer in Chile for Colo Colo.
Favorite Quote: "Live, love, forgive."

Sendy Basaez

Height: 5'6"
Age: 19
Position: Point Guard
Hometown: Iquique, Tarapacá Region.
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 7/5.
Random fact: Also played soccer and handball (asked to play handball for national team but chose bball).
Inspiration: Her dad. She uses the same phrase her father used in all he did: "In your name Lord." She believes everything she does is for God.

Barbara Cousiño

Height: 5'8"
Age: 19
Position: Guard
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 14/6. Currently plays at Utah State University, Eastern.
Favorite Quote: "Hard word pays off."

Dafne Bermúdez

Height: 5'6"
Age: 28
Position: Guard
Hometown: Calbuco, Lakes Region of Southern Chile
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 18/1.
Random fact: Is a teacher for kids with disabilities. Parents are from Costa Rica. Dad played for Costa Rica national bball team.
Favorite Quote: "Hard word pays off."

Isabel Gonzalez

Height: 6'1"
Age: 17
Position: Forward/Center
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 7/4.
Random fact: First in her family to play for Chile. She didn't like basketball at first, but she continued playing because of family encouragement. After lots of hard work, she made the U15 team in 2011 and has been playing for Chile since then.

Marisol Gamboa

Height: 5'9"
Age: 29
Position: Guard
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 20/14.
Current Job: Physical education teacher, and she is studying to be an event coordinator at University of the Americas in Santiago.
Random fact: Her parents were national ballet dancers for Chile, and they traveled the world to showcase Chilean dances.

Pancha Rojas

Height: 5'7"
Age: 22
Position: Guard
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years playing bball/years playing for Chile: 14/9.
Favorite quote: "It takes lot of hard work in life to be on top, but the view is brilliant."

Hernan Viveros

Assistant Coach: Focuses on team's defense
Hometown: Maipú, Santiago
Years coaching: 22
Coaching career

Head coach: INBA high school for 11 years, "Boston College of Chile" club team for 17 years, University of Central Chile for 7 years (current).
Assistant coach: National Chilean team, adults and U17 for 2 years (current).

Biggest coaching achievements: Chile National High School Champion, 2-time Chile National Club Team Champion, Chile National College Champion.
Random fact: Likes to watch soccer and tennis

Richi Gonzelez

Head Coach
Hometown: Madrid, Spain
Years coaching: 25
Coaching career: Has coached a dozen club teams, has been the Head Coach for Chile's female national teams since May of 2013.
Biggest coaching achievements: Many club championships and coach of the year awards while in Spain, Award from the National Institute of Sports in Chile (IND), Chile 2013’ BEST COACH of the year.
Random fact: He and his wife Livia (who played for national Spanish team and for various club teams in Europe), are a couple weeks away from having their first child! He also is a big Real Madrid fan!
Richi and Hernan Together: Have won 4 medals, qualified for 2 pre-world championships, and 1 pre-Olympic qualifier. When they started, Chile was 5th in South America and now it's ranked 6th in the Americas (North, Central, and South America).