While everyone who’s just returned from Splendour In The Grass is probably nursing a hangover and feeling pretty sorry for themselves right about now, it likely can’t compare to the state of Aussie basketball star Liz Cambage.
As ABC News reports, the 23-year-old athlete decided to skip the first day of an Opals training camp to attend Splendour, which went down in Byron Bay over the weekend, and has lost her place in next month’s qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as a result.
Cambage, who just returned from a 10-month recovery for an Achilles tendon injury, was supposed to join the Australian women’s basketball squad tonight for the first of a three-game series against Japan.
However, Cambage’s decision to skip a mandatory training camp has resulted in her being dropped from the squad. She will not play in tonight’s game, nor will she appear during next month’s Oceania Championships match against New Zealand, where the Olympic team will be selected.
“We haven’t been emotional about it – it’s a decision that had to be made, not only for Liz but for the team,” said Opals coach Brendan Joyce about the decision to cut Cambage from the team.
“We’ve got to put the team first and our goal is to use this Japan series with the players that want to be involved and are dedicated to represent their country, put their best foot forward and then we select a team to play against New Zealand.”
“It doesn’t fit in with the culture we are building – you can’t choose a music festival over a camp,” teammate Rachel Jarry told Fairfax. “She is letting her teammates down and I just wish she could have been a part of these games but it’s not to be.”
“Liz is a good friend of mine and I’d love her to be a part of it but the team has to come first,” she added. However, Cambage says she was at Splendour as a paid “host” for a band and only went because of uncertain timing over the camp and Japan games.
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“I’ve been doing everything I can to keep everyone happy,” she told the Herald Sun. “I am devastated as anyone who knows how much I love representing my country. But I am a person that does not pull out of things, whether it’s a professional commitment, a personal commitment or as a basketballer for my country.”
Opals star Lauren Jackson has weighed in on the situation, saying she supports Basketball Australia’s decision to cut Cambage and that she was “baffled” by the 23-year-old’s decision to miss training for a music festival.
“I love Liz, I think she’s an absolutely great person… and I’d do anything for her,” said Jackson. “But it’s just one of those things where you’ve got these girls training their butts off and they’re really giving their everything.”
Basketball Australia have issued a statement on the situation, confirming Cambage as ineligible for the upcoming FIBA Oceania Championships while stating that they will continue to assist Cambage in her rehabilitation from her Achilles injury.
