Chantelle Handy Representing British National Team

Chantelle Handy, born in England currently playing college basketball in the USA with Marshall University hopes to help her national team during the Eurobasket 2007 Championships. Here is an article in the Herald Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- Marshall forward Chantelle Handy always wanted to elevate her game to the next level.

Now, after spending the last few weeks as a member of Team GBR, the Great Britain National women's team, she has done just that.

Handy has been traveling all over Europe representing her country in EuroBasket 2007 where the team has gone 3-0.

The 6-foot-3 forward from Durham, England is the second-youngest player on the roster and only player that is currently on a collegiate roster.

"When you are playing international competition and representing your home country, it doesn't get any better than that," Marshall coach Royce Chadwick said. "For her to have the chance to play with this caliber of a team is a great opportunity for her to improve, practice and enhance her basketball skills."

While Handy said it was an opportunity that most people would give anything for, she nearly passed it up to build chemistry with new Marshall teammates during offseason conditioning.

After conferring with Chadwick, Handy seized the opportunity and looks forward to sharing her experiences with the team on and off the court.

"It's been a good experience to play with this level of players and has really helped my confidence a lot to do this," Handy said. "The coaching staff pushed me to do it."

Handy might have been worried about the prospects of missing out on offseason workout time with teammates, but Chadwick said that she will be back in plenty of time to gain chemistry and that her experiences overseas will be of greater value to her individually and to the team.

With a surplus of guards joining the Marshall team this fall, Handy will move from guard to forward for this season - a position she got experience at as part of Team GBR.

"We are going to make a forward and she worked hard to develop her body and get stronger so she could make that change," Chadwick said. "She was shell-shocked at first, but she elevated her game."

With Handy returning this week, Chadwick will now have a player that is nearly in midseason form before preseason even gets underway.

Handy will not only have 10 games of experience under her belt, but it will be 10 games against the world's best competition, including some WNBA players.

"I think the one thing we will get from her experience is that she has been at a different level," Chadwick said. "She will be able to come to our players about the differences in the game."

Handy said that playing at the next level has pointed out some areas of emphasis in her game that she hopes to also help her team improve in as they go for the Conference USA title.

"I think the game is a lot faster here," Handy said. "Until you see it at a high level, you don't realize it. It is quicker and more agile while also being technical here."

In addition to the high level of basketball, Handy has also taken on an intense travel schedule that has seen her travel between the team's home in Manchester, England and games in Norway, Slovenia and Croatia.

While Handy admitted that she was seeing the journey as a business trip, she said the cultural value of such an experience is one that will stick with her.

"You can see how deprived some countries are and it really hits home. People should really appreciate what they have," Handy said. "Some of these girls are local and they live in these environments, but when they play for the national team it is a totally new atmosphere.

"It's been a great experience and the coaches were very supportive. I'm really appreciative of that."