Chatilla van Grinsven

Chatilla van Grinsven (born 23 February 1991) is a Dutch female professional basketball player, who currently plays for Baxi Ferrol of the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto.

Since the age of 8 years old she started her love for basketball and has been a member of the Dutch National Basketball Team since 2006, and selected to the Dutch Senior National Team since 2010 where she has led the team as their prominent player for many years.

In 2008 she signed her athletic-scholarship in the United States to play for Colorado State University, while studying Speech Communication as her bachelor's degree.

In 2011, van Grinsven transferred to Saint Joseph’s University to play for the Hawks in Philadelphia, where she had to sit out the 2011-2012 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Living in Philadelphia, van Grinsven became an active member of the “Heart of a Hawk” service program, where she dedicated her free time to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia while also serving food to the homeless people with the help of several local non-profit-organizations. In May 2012, van Grinsven was awarded the Roosevelt Hunter Community Service Award.

In 2012, van Grinsven became eligible to play for Saint Joseph’s University and marked the 2012-2013 season as an distinguished year for her and the team (15ppg and 10,5rpg). Van Grinsven led her team to the Atlantic-10 Championship and the NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in 10 years, while accumulating numerous honors throughout her season such as the A-10 First Team All Conference, A-10 All Championship Team, Big-5 Player of the Year, scoring her 1000thcareer point, while being voted as the NCAA Woman of the Year winner of Saint Joseph’s University, and nominee of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award in the United States; awarding her distinctive performance in the class-room, on the basketball court, and her service in the community. In May 2013, van Grinsven graduated with a bachelor's degree in International Business with a focus in Economics. In April 2013, van Grinsven signed a WNBA training camp contract with the Connecticut Suns.

In 2013, van Grinsven signed her first European professional contract with French Euroleague team Bourges Basket where she won the French Cup Championship and became Final Four finalist in the FIBA Euroleague Women with her team. In 2014, van Grinsven signed with the Premier Turkish League club Ormanspor in Ankara and in 2015 she signed her professional contract with the French Premier League club in Arras, becoming a prominent player in the French League with her rebounding (9,5rpg) and scoring (13,5ppg) capacity. She went on to sign her 2016 season with the Turkish Premier League team Osmaniye, in Turkey and has recently signed her next contract in Turkey with Euroleague powerhouse Galatasaray in Istanbul.