"Tough and gritty": Renae Garlepp on the Gems World Cup campaign

The two-time WNBL champion will lead the team at the U19 Women's World Cup, which tips off on July 12.

Photo credit: FIBA

In just a few weeks, the picturesque European city of Brno, Czechia will be home to some of the world’s best junior basketball talent, with the 16-team event FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2025 taking place from July 12-20.

Australia’s team, the Gems, have completed two four-day training camps and will also participate in a four nations tournament in Portugal before the main event.

While the team will be missing elite prospects in Saffron Shiels and Lara Somfai who are both recovering from injury, Gems coach Renae Garlepp says the team will go into the event with a steely determination.

“Injuries are always unfortunate, especially for players who work really hard. But part of a tournament is adapting on the fly, backing what we’ve got and finding ways to get the best out of the players we've got and move forward with that.”

“With our group, our main focus is that want to be great at certain things and that will be our identity and what we want to be good at in every single game.

“Our whole thing is to be defensive-minded, tough and gritty.”