Belinda Snell

Australian women's basketball player

Belinda Snell
No. 12 – Sydney Uni Flames
PositionShooting guard / small forward
LeagueWNBL
Personal information
Born (1981-01-10) 10 January 1981 (age 43)
Mirboo North, Victoria, Australia
Listed height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Career information
Playing career1998–present
Career history
1998–2000AIS
2000–2006Sydney Panthers / Uni Flames
2005–2007Phoenix Mercury
2006–2007Cestistica Spezzina
2007–2008CJM Bourges Basket
2008–2009Dynamo Moscow
2009–2010San Antonio Silver Stars
2009–2010Ros Casares Valencia
2010–2011Avenida
2011Seattle Storm
2011–2012Sydney Uni Flames
2012–2014CCC Polkowice
2014–2016Bendigo Spirit
2016–presentSydney Uni Flames
Career highlights and awards

Belinda Snell (born 10 January 1981) is an Australian women's basketball player. She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, and has won two silver medals in basketball at the 2004 & 2008 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships.

Personal

Snell was born on 10 January 1981[1][2][3] and is from Victoria.[4] She is 180 centimetres (71 in) tall.[1][2][3] In 2006, she weighed 80 kilograms (180 lb).[3]

Other sports Snell has played include tennis and netball.[3] In April 2012, she was at the Reservoir West Primary School for the launch of Prime Minister's Olympic and Paralympic Challenges. As part of the event, she tried out in sports including goal ball and sitting basketball.[5]

Basketball

Snell is a guard and forward.[1][2] She started playing basketball when she was eight years old in the country Victoria location of Mirboo North for a mixed gendered team.[6] For under-14 basketball, she played for a team in Knox, Victoria, travelling two hours to Melbourne each Friday night to play.[6] She was later selected for the Country Victoria team.[6]

Professional

WNBL

Snell was born the year the WNBL was founded.[7]

In 1998/1999, she had a scholarship with and played for the Australian Institute of Sport.[6][8][9] When she joined the AIS WNBL team, she was one of the newest members of the squad, with most of the team having been hold overs from the previous year.[6] Her AIS team won the championship in 1998/1999. Her teammates included Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Suzy Batkovic.[6] In the 2000/2001 season, she was named WNBL's All-Star Five.[3] In the 2004/2005 season, she was named WNBL's All-Star Five.[3] She played for the Sydney Uni Flames this season. In a January 2005 game against the Perth Lynx that her team won 109–54, Snell scored 54 points and broke a WNBL single game scoring record set by Julie Nykiel in 1982 where Nykiel scored 53 points.[7][10] In the game, she shot 12 of 21 from three-point range.[7] This broke the WNBL's record of eight three-pointers in a game set by Michele Timms in 1988 and Narelle Fletcher in 2003.[7] She had 29 points at the half.[7] After reaching the 50-point mark, her teammates started intentionally feeding her the ball to help her break the record.[7] She shot 6 of 9 from the free throw line in the game.[7] She also had 9 rebounds, 9 steals and 7 assists.[7] She played in 37 minutes of the 40-minute game.[7] That season, she was coached by Karen Dalton.[7]

In 2005/2006, Snell played for the WNBL's Sydney Uni Flames.[3] She played for the Sydney Uni Flames in 2011/2012.[1][6][11][12] In an October 2011 game against the Logan Thunder, she scored 23 points, sinking 5 of her 6 attempted three-pointers.[11] She was named to the WNBL's All-Star Five.[13] She missed at least one game in the WNBL pre-season.[12] The team started off the season 7–0.[6]

Europe

Snell has played professional basketball in Italy, Russia, Spain and France.[11] In 2006, she was playing for Spezia in the Italian league.[14] In June 2009, she joined by Ros Casares, then current champion of the Spanish Women's League.[15] In June 2010, she joined another Spanish team, the great rival of Ros Casares; Perfumerías Avenidas de Salamanca.[16] In PLKK season 2012/13 she played for CCC Polkowice and won Championship's title and Polish Cup as well.[17]

WNBA

Snell was selected by the Phoenix Mercury following her performance at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[6] and played for them during the 2006 season.[14][18] In 2007, she played for the Phoenix Mercury but she did not feel like she got enough playing time.[10] That season, she started in two games after Diana Taurasi's suspensions. By July 2007, she had was averaging four points a game, playing low minutes including three in one and thirteen in another. As of mid-July, she had a player efficiency rating of around 5.0.[10] Her team won the Championship that year.[6] Prior to the start of the 2011 WNBA season, she had signed a training camp contract with the Seattle Storm.[19] She played for the Storm during the regular season but spent most of her time on the bench.[11] In 2011, she played for the Seattle Storm, making appearances in 21 regular season games, playing an average of 6.4 minutes per game. She had a field goal percentage of 39.3%, with a three-point shooting percentage of 38.1%.[2]

National team

Snell is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team.[1] In 2003, she was a member of the Australian Women's Senior Team that competed in the Oceania Championship Series.[3][20] She was a member of the Australian senior team that won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[3][11][20][21] She was a member of the 2005 Opals.[22][23] In 2006, she was a member of the Australian women's senior team that won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.[4][11][24] She wore number 12.[4] In 2006, she was a member of the Australian women's senior team that won a gold medal at the World Championships in Brazil.[6][21][24] This was one of the highlights of her basketball playing career.[6] She was one of the key components for the team's success.[21] Her team beat the Canada women's national basketball team by 32 points with a final score of 97–65 in their third game of the competition. In the Canadian victory, she was the team's leading scorer with 24 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.[14] On their off day from the tournament, she and her teammates did "girly" things like going shopping at a local mall.[14]

In March 2007, Snell was named to the national team what would prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[25] She was a member of the 2008 Summer Olympics Australian women's team that won a silver medal at the Olympics.[11][21][26][27] In the gold medal game against the United States, she scored 15 points in the first half.[28] In June 2010, she was viewed by national team coach Carrie Graf as one of a quartet of strong players that would represent Australia in a tour of China, the United States and Europe.[29] In July 2010, she participated in a four-day training camp and one game test match against the United States in Connecticut.[29] In 2010, she was a member of the senior women's national team that competed at the World Championships in the Czech Republic.[30] The team finished fifth.[6] She was a member of the Opals in 2011.[11] She was named to the 2012 Australia women's national basketball team.[31] In February 2012, she was named to a short list of 24 eligible players to represent Australia at the Olympics.[1] Opals teammate Lauren Jackson said O'Hea and Snell were players who would step up after Penny Taylor was injured and ruled out for London.[32] She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport.[33]

On 31 July 2012, during the Opals' Olympics preliminary round game against France, Snell hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot from behind the half-court line to tie the game at 65–65, and force overtime.[34] Unfortunately for the Opals, they would lose the game 74–70.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "London 2012 – 2012 Australian Opals squad named". Australian Olympic Committee. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d "Belinda Snell Playerfile". WNBA.com. 10 January 1981. Archived from the original on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Basketball". 2006 Australian Commonwealth Games team handbook. Melbourne, Vic.: Australian Commonwealth Games Association 2006. pp. 88–89.
  4. ^ a b c Stewart-Hudsonpublisher=Australian Commonwealth Games Association Inc., Marion (2006). "Basketball — Women". In Gallagher, D. (ed.). Australia at the Commonwealth Games 1911–2006 : XVIII Commonwealth Games, 15–26 March, Melbourne 2006. p. 42. ISBN 9780958019019.
  5. ^ Healey, Madeline. "National sports program launched at Reservoir school". Preston Leader. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "This Sporting Life Belinda Snell". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Howell, Stephen (23 January 2005). "Snell sets court on fire". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  8. ^ Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 62.
  9. ^ Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 61.
  10. ^ a b c "Mercury reserves pine to get more quality minutes – East Valley Tribune: Home". East Valley Tribune. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h "Belinda Snell, Alicia Poto Set Sydney on Fire in WNBL". The Australian. 24 October 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  12. ^ a b Hurst, Mike (7 October 2011). "Alicia Poto is back for the Sydney Flames as the WNBL season tips off". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  13. ^ Kerry, Craig (27 March 2012). "Suzy Batkovic wins WNBL gong — Local News — Sport — Basketball — Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  14. ^ a b c d "Snell Is Opals Gem". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012.
  15. ^ "El Ros Casares ficha a la escolta australiana Belinda Snell". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  16. ^ "Perfumerías Avenida ficha a Belinda Snell". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  17. ^ Profile at PLKK site Archived 1 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "'Warhorse' Jackson heads team for world champs". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  19. ^ Evans, Jayda (17 February 2011). "Storm reserve Abby Bishop opts to not return in 2011 | Seattle Times Newspaper". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  20. ^ a b Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 49.
  21. ^ a b c d "Australian Olympic Committee: Belinda Snell". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  22. ^ Howell, Stephen (10 March 2005). "Anstey in from the cold to join Tigers". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  23. ^ "Jessica Foley Selected To 'Price Attack' Opals Team For 2005 :: Foley has set a school record with 66 three-pointers this season". Cstv.com. 9 March 2005. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  24. ^ a b Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 48.
  25. ^ "Phillips keeps Opals place". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  26. ^ Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 46.
  27. ^ "Jackson, Taylor to again lead the Opals". Nine MSN. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  28. ^ "Opals humbled in gold medal match – 2008 Beijing Olympic Games — ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  29. ^ a b "Opals hit road for world title lead-up". Nine MSN. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  30. ^ Australian Institute of Sport; Basketball Australia (2011). AIS Basketball 2011. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 45.
  31. ^ "Basketball Australia : 2012 Squad". Basketball Australia. 2012. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  32. ^ "Lauren Jackson says others must fill void left by injured Penny Taylor". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  33. ^ "AUS — Opals announce training camp squad". FIBA. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  34. ^ Basketball Women's – Belinda Snell's Amazing 3 Point Wonder – London 2012 Olympic Games Highlights
  35. ^ Scott Gullan (31 July 2012). "Belinda Snell heroics not enough as Opals suffer shock Olympic loss to France". Herald Sun. Retrieved 23 December 2012.

External links

  • Basketball Australia profile
  • Opals profile
  • WNBA profile
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Australia squad – 2004 Summer Olympics – Silver medal
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Australia squad – 2006 FIBA World Championship – Gold medal
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Australia squad – 2008 Summer Olympics – Silver medal
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