The Cuban women’s national basketball team travels to Spain on May 13 to play against several Spanish teams as part of its preparation for the FIBA Americas Championship for Women in September.

Coached by Alberto Zabala, the team begins play in a tournament to take place on May 15-17 in Ferrol, a triangle competition with the host team and Australia.

Following the initial play in Ferrol the Cubans will play between May 18-24 against teams from Navarre, the Basque Country and in Barcelona. Two games are also scheduled against the national team of Portugal on May 26 and 28. Lastly, they will play the Spanish national team in Vigo on May 30th.

The training is part of the preparation for the Brazil event in which the Cubans will try to obtain one of three slots up for grabs for American continent teams for the World Championship 2010 to take place in the Czech Republic. The US already has its ticket guaranteed for being the current Olympic champions.

This stage of training is especially important for coach Zabala, above all after losing two of his principal figures, Yakelin Plutin and Yaima Boulet. He will be evaluating younger players to fill their positions.

The Cuban men’s basketball team is training for the Caribbean Championship to take place on June 28-July 4 in the British Virgin Islands. The president of the Caribbean Basketball Association, Usie Richards, said that the tournament will include eight teams divided into two groups.

Group A is comprised by: Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Jamaica; and Group B by: Barbuda, Bermuda Islands, Cuba and the host British Virgin Islands. The tournament will allot three tickets to the Centrobasket 2010 competition, which constitutes the first step on the calendar for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The Caribbean event will also allot seven slots for the Central American and Caribbean Games, Mayaguez 2010, and three for the Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games.