Belinda Snell (born 10 January 1981) is an Australian women's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. She is a member of the
Australia women's national basketball team
The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at offic ...
, and has won two silver medals in basketball at the
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
&
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
, a bronze medal at the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, a gold medal at the
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
, a gold medal at the
2018 Commonwealth Games
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...
, 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
and is from Victoria.
She is tall.
In 2006, she weighed .
Other sports Snell has played include tennis and netball. 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.
Basketball
Snell is a guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
and forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
.[ She started playing basketball when she was eight years old in the country Victoria location of Mirboo North for a mixed gendered team.] For under-14 basketball, she played for a team in Knox, Victoria
The City of Knox is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and in 2020, Knox had a population of 165,147. This municipality is one of only a han ...
, travelling two hours to Melbourne each Friday night to play.[ She was later selected for the Country Victoria team.][
]
Professional
WNBL
Snell was born the year the WNBL was founded.
In 1998/1999, she had a scholarship with and played for the Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
. 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.[ Her AIS team won the championship in 1998/1999. Her teammates included Lauren Jackson, ]Penny Taylor
Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...
and Suzy Batkovic
Suzy Batkovic (born 17 December 1980 in Lambton, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian professional basketball player and politician. Suzy played her junior basketball with the Port Hunter Basketball Club in Newcastle. She has played bas ...
.[ In the 2000/2001 season, she was named WNBL's All-Star Five.] In the 2004/2005 season, she was named WNBL's All-Star Five. 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
Julie Dawn Nykiel (born 13 December 1958) is a former Australian women's basketball player.
Biography
Basketball
Nykiel played for the national team between 1979 and 1990, competing at two Olympic Games; 1984 and 1988. in 1982 where Nykiel scored 53 points. In the game, she shot 12 of 21 from three-point range.[ This broke the WNBL's record of eight three-pointers in a game set by Michele Timms in 1988 and Narelle Fletcher in 2003.][ She had 29 points at the half.][ After reaching the 50-point mark, her teammates started intentionally feeding her the ball to help her break the record.][ She shot 6 of 9 from the free throw line in the game.][ She also had 9 rebounds, 9 steals and 7 assists.][ She played in 37 minutes of the 40-minute game.][ That season, she was coached by Karen Dalton.][
In 2005/2006, Snell played for the WNBL's ]Sydney Uni Flames
The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League
The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional wo ...
. She played for the Sydney Uni Flames in 2011/2012. In an October 2011 game against the Logan Thunder, she scored 23 points, sinking 5 of her 6 attempted three-pointers.[ She was named to the WNBL's All-Star Five.] She missed at least one game in the WNBL pre-season. The team started off the season 7–0.[
]
Europe
Snell has played professional basketball in Italy, Russia, Spain and France.[ In 2006, she was playing for Spezia in the Italian league.][ In June 2009, she joined by Ros Casares, then current champion of the Spanish Women's League.] In June 2010, she joined another Spanish team, the great rival of Ros Casares; Perfumerías Avenidas de Salamanca. In PLKK season 2012/13 she played for CCC Polkowice and won Championship's title and Polish Cup as well.
WNBA
Snell was selected by the Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...
following her performance at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[ and played for them during the 2006 season.][ ] In 2007, she played for the Phoenix Mercury but she did not feel like she got enough playing time. 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. Her team won the Championship that year.[ Prior to the start of the 2011 WNBA season, she had signed a training camp contract with the ]Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
. She played for the Storm during the regular season but spent most of her time on the bench.[ 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%.][
]
National team
Snell is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team
The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at offic ...
. In 2003, she was a member of the Australian Women's Senior Team that competed in the Oceania Championship Series. She was a member of the Australian senior team that won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. She was a member of the 2005 Opals. In 2006, she was a member of the Australian women's senior team that won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. She wore number 12. In 2006, she was a member of the Australian women's senior team that won a gold medal at the World Championships in Brazil. This was one of the highlights of her basketball playing career.[ She was one of the key components for the team's success.][ Her team beat the ]Canada women's national basketball team
The Canadian women's national basketball team represents Canada in international basketball competitions. They are overseen by Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada. They are currently ranked fourth by FIBA.
History Pa ...
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.[ On their off day from the tournament, she and her teammates did "girly" things like going shopping at a local mall.][
In March 2007, Snell was named to the national team what would prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics.] She was a member of the 2008 Summer Olympics Australian women's team that won a silver medal at the Olympics. In the gold medal game against the United States, she scored 15 points in the first half. In June 2010, she was viewed by national team coach Carrie Graf
Carrie Ann Graf (born 23 June 1967) is an Australian basketball coach. She competed in the WNBL as a player starting during 1983–1989, after which she attended RMIT. Graf has coached teams in the WNBL, WNBA and Australia's national team, an ...
as one of a quartet of strong players that would represent Australia in a tour of China, the United States and Europe. In July 2010, she participated in a four-day training camp and one game test match against the United States in Connecticut. In 2010, she was a member of the senior women's national team that competed at the World Championships in the Czech Republic. The team finished fifth.[ She was a member of the Opals in 2011.] She was named to the 2012 Australia women's national basketball team. In February 2012, she was named to a short list of 24 eligible players to represent Australia at the Olympics. Opals teammate Lauren Jackson said O'Hea and Snell were players who would step up after Penny Taylor
Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian retired professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. ...
was injured and ruled out for London. She was scheduled to participate in the national team training camp held from 14 to 18 May 2012 at the Australian Institute of Sport.
On 31 July 2012, during the Opals' Olympics preliminary round game against France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Snell hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot
A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...
from behind the half-court line to tie the game at 65–65, and force overtime. Unfortunately for the Opals, they would lose the game 74–70.
See also
* List of Australian WNBA players
The following is a chronological list of Australian players who have played at least one game in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The list includes both past and present players. Active WNBA players are shown in bold.
Austral ...
References
External links
Basketball Australia profile
Opals profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snell, Belinda
1981 births
Living people
Australian expatriate basketball people in France
Australian expatriate basketball people in Italy
Australian expatriate basketball people in Poland
Australian expatriate basketball people in Russia
Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain
Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States
Australian Institute of Sport basketball (WNBL) players
Australian women's basketball players
Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic basketball players of Australia
Olympic bronze medalists for Australia
Olympic medalists in basketball
Olympic silver medalists for Australia
People educated at Lake Ginninderra College
Phoenix Mercury players
San Antonio Stars players
Seattle Storm players
Small forwards
Sydney Uni Flames players