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Semiahmoo Totems’ trio selected for Canada Basketball U16 team

Tara Wallack, Izzy Forsyth and Deja Lee will play in U16 Women’s Americas Championship
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Semiahmoo Secondary’s Tara Wallack, Izzy Forsyth and Deja Lee will represent Canada at FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship this month in Chile. (File photos)

A trio of Semiahmoo Totems basketball players will be representing Canada on the world stage this summer.

On Friday, Izzy Forsyth, Tara Wallack and Deja Lee – all members of the Semiahmoo basketball team that won a triple-A senior girls provincial championship last March – were named by Canada Basketball to the national under-16 girls team.

The 12-player squad will compete at the FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship from June 16-22 in Aysen, Chile. Players were scouted and monitored by Team Canada brass throughout the basketball season, and all recently took part in a training camp in Toronto. The Semiahmoo trio are the only three players from B.C. on the roster.

The upcoming tournament will give the young members of the squad an important taste of international competition, a news release notes.

“From December to March camp, we saw their commitment levels increase and as we head into this final camp before competition, we recognize their intentionality in bringing the characteristics that we hope embodies our team this summer - resilience, defensive disruption and team-oriented play,” said U16 team head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul.

“Being able to introduce them to their first international experience is an honour for us as a coaching staff and hopefully only the beginning of their time representing Canada.”

All three South Surrey players have been on the national program’s radar prior to this season. In 2018, all three Semiahmoo players – along with teammate Faith Dut, who is two years older – were invited to participate in Canada Basketball assessment camps hosted by the national organization’s high performance program.

Last summer, Forsyth, Lee and Wallack also represented B.C. at Basketball Canada U15 National Championships, where they won gold.



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