University of San Francisco women's basketball returning sophomore and Croatia native Marta Galic will train and play this summer with her home country's senior national team, as the six-foot guard received an invitation for the Croatian national team.
 
Galic's invitation came as somewhat of as a pleasant surprise. While she was preparing – with much disappointment – to inform her Croatia coach, Stipe Bralić, that she couldn't play with the U20 Croatian national team in August at the European Championships due to her commitments at USF, she was asked if she was available from May 20 to June 23 to be with the senior national team. The request came on the same day she was about to send her message of dismay
 
Galic has plenty of experience playing on the national level in Croatia, as she – as well as her twin sister and fellow Don, Marija – received calls for the national team camps at each relevant age group (U16, U18, U20) since she was 15. Both Marta and Marija played in the U20 European Division 'A' Championship last summer.
 
"Being here is a great pleasure for me and, as one of the youngest team members, is certainly a great experience," said Galic via email from back home in Croatia. "I am really enjoying playing and competing at this level and each day I learn something new from my teammates and coach (Stipe) Bralić, who coached both in men's (forged several current NBA players) and women's (led the national team to 2012 Olympics) basketball."
 
With Croatia suffering a defeat during qualification, the team will not participate in this summer's European Championship. Rather, according to Galic, the Croatian national team camp will focus on keeping the team together, introducing new, younger players to the program, build foundations for upcoming competitions and play preparation games against other national teams who have qualified for the Euros.
 
"I am very grateful for this opportunity and for being able to achieve it," said Galic. "I would like to thank all the coaches who have coached me in the past in the clubs and the national teams, and especially to my coaches at the USF – Molly (Goodenbour), Janell (Jones), Katy (Steding) and Arthur (Moreira) – as they have greatly helped me during the past season to adjust to college basketball and to improve my game in all aspects, thereby having prepared me for this journey."