A near-perfect campaign at last week’s IWBF Women's Repechage Tournament in Spain saw the Gliders secure qualification for the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, booking their place in Ottawa this September.
After missing out on direct qualification at the Asia Oceania Zone Championships in November last year, the repechage tournament served as the final qualification opportunity for teams chasing one of four remaining places at the World Championships.
Head Coach Jeremy Synot said qualifying in Madrid was less a surprise and more the reward for a group that had continued to put in the work and trust the process.
"We have had quite a bit of belief in this group and their capability, and there were little signs along the way that we weren't far off the mark," Synot said.
"An example was a practice game in Spain against the host nation where we looked really comfortable playing our style of game. Looking back, we were the only team to play a very tight game against Spain."
The Gliders' return to the world stage marks an important milestone in the program's rebuild after missing qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Synot said the success of this tournament is a sliding doors moment for the program.
“Our group has recaptured that competitive edge and really established an identity as a strong defensive team with depth across every classification."
"We think this performance will serve as a launching pad for hopefully bigger and better targets."
Synot was quick to acknowledge the contribution of the wider staff group behind the team's success.
"Firstly, the coaching and support team deserve a lot of credit. The job Matt McShane, Kelsey Griffin and performance analyst Milli Bilson did — not only supporting me but helping build our on-court systems — played a huge role in our success."
"As well as Shenae Keleher, our team manager who looked after our group off court, and Winona Bauer, who for the past three years has helped keep the group together through injury management and prevention. To say this was a team effort is an understatement, and I'm so fortunate to lead this group of people."
With qualification secured, attention now turns to the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Ottawa, Canada, where the world's leading wheelchair basketball nations will compete from 9-19 September.
"We will have a very considered build-up, underpinned by the national league and a pre-departure camp in August, where we'll continue to develop our style of play at both ends of the floor," Synot said.
"We have a lot of scope to improve, and we will continue to develop on and off the court so we can build on our belief and the results from the repechage."
