Tracy York excited as Australian Sapphires prepare for training camp

But the third-year coach will soon have plenty more and exciting on her plate when that time comes.

York is preparing to oversee Australia's under-17 women's team - the Sapphires - 2022 campaign.

It's a massive year for the Sapphires with the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Jordan in June, leading into a potential World Cup in Hungary in July.

Directly after the Spirit's final game this Sunday against the Sydney Uni Flames, York will head to the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra for a three-day training camp.

There she will take charge of 25 players, all vying for inclusion in the Asia Cup team

It will be the beginning of a long selection process for York and her assistants.

"From there I will go watch the national under-18 championships in Ballarat and have another camp," she said.

"We'll then go to Jordan and if we finish top-four there, we qualify for the world championships in Hungary in July.

"It's all going to be pretty packed in."

York, who was an assistant coach when the Sapphires claimed a gold medal at the FIBA Under 17 World Championships in Spain in 2016, said the complexities of COVID on basketball over the last two years had made this campaign a bit of an unknown.

"These girls haven't been able to play nationals at under-16 because last year only a few teams went and New South Wales and Victoria couldn't," she said.

"The initial camp for the group we are bringing in has basically been done through the high-performance managers of the states.

"So we are bringing in a group of 25, but there is a policy at the AIS that if you are 15 or under you can't stay there, so there's about 10 that can't come into camp.

"We'll have to have a look at them in Sydney with another group of coaches.

"So it's a bit of an unknown. Fortunately, they should all be at nationals in Ballarat (from April 10 to 17)."

York, who has led the Spirit to five wins from their last seven games, including three in a row before last weekend's loss to the Flames, said she could not more rapt for star forward Anneli Maley following news she had signed a training camp contract with current WNBA champions Chicago Sky.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed a breakout season with a team-high of 20.2 points per game (second in the league) and league-high 15,8 rebounds per game.

"It has been one of the great seasons and her training camp contract could not be more well deserved," she said.

READ MORE: Spirit's Anneli Maley aims high for Chicago Sky training camp

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