Attending training camp over the past two weeks, University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball alumna Ellen Ougrinov completed her first appearance with the Bulgarian national team.

Training camp for the Bulgarian national team ran from July 1-15 as the squad begins preparations for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers scheduled for November. Along with training and practice, the camp also included two friendly matches versus the Romanian national team and Bulgarian U20 team.

"The opportunity meant so much to me, both of my parents immigrated from Bulgaria so being able to go back and play the sport I love where they're from means everything," said Ougrinov.

A prolific player during her time at U of T, Ougrinov finished her Varsity Blues career with 1,081 points, becoming just the eighth player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. Her ascent up the Varsity Blues record books was helped by her incredible outside shooting, which saw all four of her seasons register in the single season Top 10 for Blues three-point field goals all-time, leading to a new program record for career three-point field goals (189). She closed out her OUA career with a spectacular 2023-24 campaign where she not only led the Varsity Blues in numerous statistical categories, but also finished Top 5 in the OUA in both points per game (17.9) and total three-point field goals made (77), earning her OUA all-star honours.

Ougrinov then followed up her time playing as a Varsity Blue with a season coaching, joining the 2024-25 staff as a graduate assistant coach while continuing her studies at OISE.

"My time at U of T really helped me because I was able to develop my skills as a player, learn how to make reads in different situations, and develop confidence playing against high-level competition in the OUA and U SPORTS," detailed Ougrinov. "Throughout my time at U of T, I was able to learn from a lot of great coaches and develop a lot of habits that I took with me to this experience. I think ultimately it was because of the career at U of T that I was given this opportunity and was contacted by the national team, so I'll always be grateful that I had the chance to develop as a player and person here."