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Team USA Basketball player encourages women to get involved in sport

Sunday 29 July 2012

Team USA Women’s Basketball have captivated the nation with an overwhelming win over Croatia yesterday. Having won their first match in the lead up to the Olympics, there was no rest for the players this morning as they arrived back at University of East London’s state of the art training facility- SportsDock-ahead of their next big match versus Angola.

Saturday's victory was the Americans' 34th consecutive in Olympic play, and the United States is gunning for a fifth consecutive gold medal. With basketball being the most popular women's team sport in America, Team USA are set to dominate the game and provide an inspiration to women all over the world.

Top US Basketball player, Su Bird, is one of seven women in the world to win an Olympic Gold Medal, an NCAA Championship, and a WNBA Championship. She was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history in 2011.

Su took a ‘timeout’ from practice to sit down with the UEL Press Team to talk about how future female students interested in taking up sport could benefit from getting involved:

“I know that sport might not be for everyone but I would encourage women and young girls to get involved in sport for sure. The benefits that come with being in a team far outweigh simply playing the game. I have played with people from a wide range of diverse backgrounds and learnt so much from them.”

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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