A leading 26 Basketball Ballarat athletes selected to represent Victoria Country

Picked from the tryout day in Shepparton, regional athletes have earned selection into the Southern Cross Challenge (SCC), Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup (ACJBC) and National Intensive Training Program (NITP) squads for 2018.

The SCC and ACJBC representatives will earn insight into elite development and higher-level gameplay across the two elite junior tournaments held in January.

The 2018 Southern Cross Challenge will be held at the State Basketball Centre, Wantirna South from Friday 19 January to Monday 22 January 2018.

The 2018 Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup will be held at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre, Albury, NSW, from Sunday 14 January to Saturday 20 January 2018.

The best and brightest from the country will also feature in the National Intensive Training Program (NITP) – as the best under-15, under-16 and under-18 players hone their skills in preparation for the next level.

Basketball Victoria’s High Performance Coach Country Justin Schueller said the country contingent – selected from their outstanding tryouts at Shepparton – will set up their elite basketball journeys in tandem with the NITP selections.

“Southern Cross Challenge and Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup have been important steps for our elite country athletes as they progress further into the country high performance pathway,” Schueller said. “Selection into SCC/ACJBC from Country Victoria is an amazing achievement and coupled with NITP, it showcases our best juniors and gives them an opportunity to become better players and people on and off the court.

“We wish the best of luck to our Country athletes heading into the Southern Cross Challenge and Australian Junior Country Basketball Cup.”

For the second year running Basketball Ballarat topped Basketball Victoria Country Amongst with 26 athletes, who through their hard work and dedication earned spots amongst the variety of tournaments and NITP.

Basketball Ballarat Manager of Athlete & Coach Development Nathan Cooper-Brown commented “To again lead regional basketball with the most athletes selected is a testament to all the great work being done in our program. I’m extremely proud of all our Ballarat athletes, their hard work, devotion and passion for the game has been rewarded by their selection. This is an important step in their pathway, and I hope it becomes further motivation for them to continue building championship habits, that will see them represent the Miners and Rush one day soon”.

Cooper-Brown added “ we have been working tirelessly here at Basketball Ballarat to build a culture of accountability, trust and togetherness, and this is a wonderful example of the by-product of that culture”.

The 2018 BVC events will see a number of athlete’s challenge for State and National selection, making it likely that we’ll see Australia’s next big star emerge from the Ballarat community.

 

Basketball Ballarat Athletes:

U14 Boys – ACJBC Finlay Odgers Ballarat Basketball Association

U14 Girls – ACJBC Sadie Cheesman Ballarat Basketball Association

U14 Girls – ACJBC Laila Lappin Ballarat Basketball Association

U14 Girls – ACJBC Mathilda Rivers Ballarat Basketball Association

U14 Girls – SCC Jemma Amoore Ballarat Basketball Association

U14 Girls – SCC Milly Sharp Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Boys – SCC Keenan Chapman Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Boys – SCC Joe Fraser Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Boys – Southern Cross Challenge – (Emerg) Joshua Sparkman Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Girls – SCC Ella Hutchinson Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Girls – SCC Milly Simpson Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Girls – SCC Rosie Todd Ballarat Basketball Association

U15 Girls – SCC – (Emerg) Jada Skennerton Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Boys – ACJBC Charlie Molan Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Boys – ACJBC Max Rivers Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Boys – ACJBC Nathan Sutton Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Girls – ACJBC Talia Hurdsfield Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Girls – ACJBC – (Emerg) Zara Arhanghelschi Ballarat Basketball Association

U16 Girls – ACJBC – (Emerg) Annie Collins Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Boys – ACJBC Eithen Fiegert Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Boys – ACJBC Dyami Hayes Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Boys – ACJBC Jeremiah McKenzie Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Girls – ACJBC Georgia Amoore Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Girls – ACJBC Jordie McAuliffe Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Girls – ACJBC Sophie Molan Ballarat Basketball Association

U18 Girls – ACJBC Bella Westbrook Ballarat Basketball Association

 

For further information please contact Manager – Athlete & Coach Development: Nathan Cooper-Brown nathan.cb@ballaratbasketball.com