Camino Heads To France
Illawarra Mercury
Tuesday September 16, 2008
FORMER Keira High basketball standout Renae Camino has brushed up on her French to prepare for the next chapter of her burgeoning career.
Camino left Australia on Friday to take up a contract with Pays D'Aix Basket, a French national league club in the country's idyllic south.One of her team-mates will be Australian Opals forward Holly Grima."Basketball has taken me to a few different places around the world and I've been to France a couple of times, but I've never been to the south of France and it's supposed to be beautiful," the former Illawarra junior star said before leaving."Just the fact that it's a new challenge and new team for me, I'm kind of heading into unknown territory and it's pretty exciting."The season starts on September 28 and finishes in May. "But I'll be back for a quick trip at Christmas and it'll be good to break it up and catch up with my family," Camino said.Camino has a European passport and received a number of overseas offers before settling on Pays D'Aix Basket.The 21-year-old from Balgownie led Adelaide to the WNBL title earlier this year and was drafted by the Houston Comets more than two years ago."If I have a good season in Europe, I'll probably give the WNBA a crack next year," she said.Camino narrowly missed Opals selection for the Beijing Olympics - she got down to the last 16 players - and should be a leading contender for London in 2012."It was disappointing not to get selected for Beijing, but I toured with the team before that and I was in the top 16 mix, so hopefully I'll be there in four years," she said."I don't know what's happening with the team, but I've heard (coach) Jan (Stirling) might be leaving and there might be some other changes."Playing for Australia in an Olympics is still one of my main goals."
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