When it comes to sports, Canadians always have something to boast about. Whether it’s hockey, skiing, or curling, we’re a nation of contenders. And in the world of professional basketball, Canada has its sights set on Julia Cambage. Julia is a 20-year-old center from Toronto who is quickly becoming one of the most promising young players in the game. In just her third season in the league, she has already proven herself as one of the top rebounders in the league and a potent scorer. If you ever get the chance to watch Julia play, don’t miss it—she may just become your new favorite player.
Julia Cambage Youth Career
Julia Cambage, the 16-year-old Canadian basketball sensation, has already made an incredible impression on the international stage. She was just named to the United States under-18 women’s national team and is averaging 18.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year in her rookie season with her provincial team, the Calgary Capitals. In January of 2019 she also helped Canada win a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, becoming just the fourth player ever to win a gold medal at both the junior world championships and at a FIBA Americas championship.
Born and raised in Calgary, Cambage started playing basketball at an early age. “I first picked it up when I was about four or five years old,” she says. Her father was always supportive of her passion for the sport and often took her to practice and tournaments. Julia quickly learned how to be dominant on the court: “I think my natural ability shone through pretty early on,” she says. Playing for local youth teams while still in elementary school helped develop her skills even more. After reaching middle school, Cambage switched to playing for a senior girls’ team that competed in provincial competitions. This elevated her game even further as she faced tougher competition week after week.
During her sophomore year of high school, Cambage was given a chance to play for the Canadian Women’s National
Julia Cambage: The 2017/2018 Season
As the 2017-2018 season begins, Julia Cambage is confidently positioned as Canada’s top basketball prospect. With an innate ability to shoot and score, Julia has quickly emerged as one of the most sought-after players in the country.
Julia began her high school career at Coquitlam Christian in Coquitlam, BC. There she averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds per game while leading her team to a provincial championships. Upon moving up to junior varsity, Julia showed even more promise with averages of 26 points and 14 rebounds per game.
Julia attended Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA for her final year of high school. The prestigious program features some of the best athletes in the country and helped pave the way for current NCAA stars such as DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson. At Oak Hill Academy, Julia averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds per game while helping lead her team to a national championship appearance.
In preparation for upcoming college basketball seasons, scouts from all over North America have begun to take notice of Julia Cambage. Some of the biggest names in women’s basketball include UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, Nicole Smithson (Arizona), Jamie Dixon (Penn State), and Shaka Smart (Virginia).
Despite already having scholarship offers from several major universities including Marquette University, UCLA Bruins, Stanford Cardinal ,and Boston College Eagles , Julia has decided to attend McGill University in Montreal
The 2018 Canadian Women’s Basketball Championship
The Canadian Women’s Basketball Championship is one of the most prestigious tournaments in women’s basketball. Held annually since 1987, it is the sport’s version of the men’s World Cup, with teams from across Canada competing for the title.
This year, the tournament will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 10-17th. With 24 teams competing, this year’s tournament has a lot of big names involved. Names like Kelly Olynyk and Rebecca Lobo are two players that many people are rooting for to win the championship.
So far this season, Julia Cambage has been dominating both at home and on the road. In her last game against McGill, Cambage recorded 38 points on 18/24 shooting along with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Her play has caught the eye of many scouts and she is considered by many to be Canada’s best player at present.
If Cambage can win this tournament, it would be an amazing achievement for her and for women’s basketball in Canada as a whole. She is lightning fast on both feet and has an excellent court sense which allows her to dominate opponents physically and mentally. If she can continue her dominance into the championship game and bring home the gold medal for Canada, we could see her become one of basketball’s biggest stars
Transitioning to the Senior Level
Julia Cambage is quickly becoming one of the most revered players in Canada. Her consistent play at the junior level has caught the eyes of many top American universities, and she is now ready to take her game to the next level. Cambage recently committed to play basketball for the University of California, Berkeley starting in 2020.
Cambage’s journey to the senior level has not been an easy one. She has had to overcome many obstacles, including a series of ankle injuries that have forced her to miss significant portions of her career. But through it all, Cambage has never let down her fans. In fact, she has become one of Canada’s most popular athletes, and she is now poised to take her game abroad.
Cambage is a versatile player who can score both inside and out. Her athleticism and explosiveness make her a difficult opponent to defend, and she will be a key component on Cal’s vaunted women’s basketball team. Cambage will have plenty of competition for playing time with America’s top seniors already committed to college basketball teams, but with hard work and dedication she has a good chance of becoming an elite player in the United States.
The 2020 Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The 2020 Olympic Qualifying Tournament is fast approaching and Canada is looking to build on their impressive qualifying campaign so far.
Led by star players Julia Cambage and Kelsey Bone, Canada have qualified for the tournament with relative ease, topping their group with a record of 4-0. In the process, they have set new records for the most points scored in a qualifying campaign (997) and margin of victory (478 points).
Their task in Beijing will be simple – win two games against China to earn a spot at the Olympics. Despite China’s recent success at the Olympics, Canada should have no trouble winning their first game in Beijing by an average of 19 points. The second game will be trickier due to China’s strength in defence, but if Canada can keep up their high scoring performance they should still comfortably win by 10 or more points.
Despite being ranked 22nd in the world, Canada are arguably the best team remaining in this year’s qualification tournament. With continued strong performances from Cambage and Bone, they could easily become one of the favourites to reach Tokyo 2020.
Conclusion
Julia Cambage is quickly becoming one of Canada’s brightest young basketball stars. After impressing scouts with her play at the U18 World Championships last summer, Julia has been drawing comparisons to another Canadian hoops phenom- Candace Parker. With a versatile offensive game and toughness on defense, Julia is poised to become one of the most dominant players in women’s professional basketball. Keep an eye out for her future performances!