News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters hosted an hour of international cultural and athletic exchange on Thursday, March 18, as the Chinese National Women's Basketball Team stopped in town for a shopping spree.
The elite squad - silver medallists in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics - was in the area for an exhibition game against a team of former college all-stars in Bend on Friday. The Chinese team is training at the United States Basketball Academy for a month.
"These girls are the top players out of 1.3 billion people," academy founder and president Bruce O'Neil noted.
They are currently among the top five teams in the world and are at the academy to work on their skills. The women will compete with 42 teams in Asia for a slot at the next Olympic games. Team Japan is their top rival.
Their time at the academy is designed to hone their abilities in preparation for Olympic qualification.
"They really shoot the ball," O'Neil said. "But they need to work on their defensive skills; they need to work on their rebounding."
Contrary to common assumptions, the young women certainly have the size to compete in international basketball. Several of the women ar 6-feet-4-inches or 6-feet-five-inches tall.
The team's stop in Sisters was designed as a diversion for the hard-working players.
"We want the girls to see different parts of the state, break up their training schedule," O'Neil said.
According to O'Neil, the Chinese men's team will likely visit in May.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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