Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Former Kennedy High star Nicole Louden will headline a host of players that will vie to represent Jamaica's women basketball team as they push for a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

"Things are going really well and we have lots of offers from players abroad who wish to represent us in the final qualification rounds," said Marland Nattie, president of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JBA).

The Jamaicans created history when they became the first English-speaking Caribbean nation to make it to the final round of Olympic qualification. Now they look to fortify an already talented squad ahead of the 2007 Fiba Americas Championships in Valdivia, Chile, which was pushed back from an early April date to the 25th-29th of September.

The winner of the Fiba Americas Championships will automatically book their spot to the 2008 Games, while the teams finishing two through four will still have another opportunity to qualify as one of five teams from the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament which will be held in 2008.

Waves

The 5ft. 7ins. Louden made waves in the United States while playing for Kennedy High School in New Jersey. She was the all-time scorer, male or female, with nearly 3,000 career points and has a career-high of 50 points in a single match.

In 2001 the player's excellent performances on the basketball courts saw her the subject of a book entitled She's Got Handle, written by Adam Zagoria. In a different system at Auburn University, where she spent four years, Louden was less influential but still managed to average 10.6 points, 3.2 assists and 4.8 boards in her senior year.

Filing process

Though not Jamaican-born, both Louden's parents are Jamaicans and she is currently going through a filing process that will allow her to represent the nation. Not drafted in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the 22-year-old Louden had a brief stint with Bnei Yehuda in Israel before returning to the United States.

Nattie says the new tournament date is working in their favour.

"The tournament being pushed back is a good thing for us as we have even more time to prepare and should have an even better team for the next round."

The JBA is currently attempting to garner necessary funds which will allow them to host a camp in the USA in April for an assessment of the interested players and are once again appealing for corporate Jamaica's help.

The team booked its spot in the Fiba Americas Championships following a third place finish at the Centro Basket Championship for women in Mexico back in July. The group now sees the Jamaicans alongside Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and perennial powerhouse the United States. By virtue of their high finish at the Centro Basket Championships the team will also take part in the 2007 Pan American Games in July.