June 2010
Welcome to the June edition bringing you a round-up on the Victorian Country Championships and information on other BRP achievements and events. Also remember to look at the BRP notice board in the Minerdome passageway between courts 2 and 3 for additional items of interest.
U17 Australian team –Congratulations
Congratulation to Ash Constable, Tom Downie and Jarrod Fryar who have all been selected in the U17 Australian boys’ team to compete at the 2010 World Championships in Germany from 22 June 2010.
It’s a great effort by the boys and we are extremely proud of the boys. To have three out of twelve players from the Ballarat program is a terrific achievement.”
Australian Development Camp-Congratulations
Well done Anthony Fisher and Lindsay Cole on their selection to attend the Australian Development Camp 21-24 June 2010 at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. This camp forms part of the preparation for players leading towards the 2013 Under 19 World Championships and beyond.
Only three boys were chosen from Country Victoria to attend the camp, again a great result for Ballarat.
VJBL Update
The VJBL season is heading to the business end and we are thrilled that the U18 boys and U18 girls together with the U16 girls and U14 girls have all qualified for Championship division which is the top ten in each competition. A great effort by all involved. In the remaining nine games Ballarat will play each team in there pool once. The top eight final series will commence at the end of this.
Under 16 Country Championships (March 20 – 21)
U16 Girls Win Gold
The Ballarat Miners under 16 girls struck gold at the 2010 Victorian Country Championships. After seven games of basketball the girl’s broke a 16 year drought to take the title from a very talented Horsham team. Leading up to the title game the Ballarat girls played 3 games in their pool and crossover final on the Saturday night and won all games comfortably to qualify for Championship division games on the Sunday.
The girls played arch rivals Bendigo in the quarter final and with superior pressure and continually running the floor the greater depth on the bench provided too much talent for the Bendigo girls wearing them down and recording a 25 point win to advance to the Semi Final against Mildura. The semi-final was described as the “best performance of the weekend” by Coach Glenn White. The Ballarat girls held Mildura to a low score and won by 13 points.
The Championship match proved to be survival of the fittest. Having already played six games in the lead up, Ballarat had to dig deep to find the energy to take out the title. Ballarat didn’t get off to a great start with Horsham leading 22 – 6 early in the first half. However, by half time Ballarat had fought back to trail by only six points.
Some defensive changes in the second half saw Ballarat outscore Horsham by 14 points, taking the win and the Championship trophy by nine points.
Coach Glenn White said he was “proud of the way the team had responded as they could have quite easily given up. The fighting spirit and the character the girls showed is the reason they were able to take out the title”.
U16 Boys
The Miners U16 boys were unable to come home with the gold. With a tough match up for the first game of the weekend against Warragul, Ballarat seemed to struggle for height and speed. Despite Ballarat being much smaller than the Warragul team they challenged their opposition right until the last minutes of the game, only losing the match by two points.
The later game against arch rivals, Geelong, also allowed Coach Darren Thomas to see some positive signs from the Miners. Up until this point, Geelong had not been challenged on the scoreboard. To Ballarat’s credit this was not the case in this game. After a tight first quarter Ballarat were able to stick with their taller opponents and keep the scores within an arm’s reach. As the second quarter started so did Geelong’s outside shooting. Ballarat then found themselves down by twelve points at the half time break. The second half saw Ballarat throw another challenge at the defending champions, pulling the margin back to four points. Unfortunately, Geelong were better under pressure and ran away to win the game by nine points.
After suffering two loses, Ballarat was placed in the Division 2 competition for Sunday’s finals series. A win against Corio Bay in the semi-final set up a grand final clash against Warrnambool. Unfortunately, Ballarat were the smaller team again and were over-run by the power of the Warrnambool team.
Future Stars Under 12 (March 27 – 29)
U12s Perform well at Country Championships
The Ballarat Miners U12 boys and girls squads performed very well at the Future Stars Victorian Country Championships, winning through their pool rounds, only to stumble at the knockout semi-final stage. The teams travelled to Bendigo to take on 32 of Country Victoria’s finest junior squads. Both boys and girls teams were extremely competitive and were unfortunate their campaigns ended in the semi-finals, with the boys losing to Moe by five points and the girls losing to Bendigo by 19 points.
Both teams performed well early in the weekend; in particular the boys who were able to win six out of six pool games on Saturday and Sunday. Coach Michael Agnew said “the boys played extremely well all weekend. Unfortunately we couldn’t carry that over to the important game on Monday morning”.
In the semi final, the boys faced off against a quicker and more intense Moe team. Ballarat got off to a slow start and were unable to play the way they had been all weekend. Lots of turnovers and missed shots from Ballarat allowed Moe to open up a twelve point lead and sustain it for most of the match. Ballarat made a last ditch effort with a minute and half left to go in the match, but it was too late. Moe moved onto the final after a five point win (37 to 32), and were the eventual runners-up.
The girls also put up an impressive fight through their pool games, winning five out their six played. Unfortunately, fatigue seemed to set in as they came up against Bendigo in the semi-final. As was the case with the boys’ team, the girls fell behind by a small margin early in the first half and found it difficult to score freely. In the end Ballarat lost by 19points (36 to 17), and Bendigo went on to take the title.
Gold Star Classic Under 14 (April 9 – 11)
U14s Shine early at the Country Championships
The Ballarat Miners U14 boys and girls squads competed in the annual Gold Star Classic in Bendigo with 32 of Country Victoria’s finest young basketball teams
The girls found themselves under-prepared for the first game due to injuries and an interrupted lead up to the tournament. Despite this the team was able to win their first six games straight against teams from Bendigo, Traralgon, Horsham, Foster and Echuca. This put the girls in first position as they went into their finals matches.
The quarter final saw Ballarat take on an undersized Korumburra side which proved to be no match for the Miners running game. A 21 point win set up a semi-final clash with Wangaratta.
Unfortunately for Ballarat, the six games had taken their toll on the girls and they were unable to create scoring opportunities. On the other hand, Wangaratta worked well together and their full court defensive pressure meant they walked away with a six point win, advancing through to the grand final.
The boys went into the tournament lacking the height of some of their opponents. Despite this they were able to advance through their pool games undefeated. Unfortunately, day two of the tournament was Ballarat’s downfall, dropping games against Mildura, Sale and Moe.
This put Ballarat into the division two on Sunday. After victories in the morning, Ballarat faced off against Mildura once again in the division two grand final. With Sam Short and Sam McMaster struggling with injury, Ballarat seemed too tired to challenge the very talented Mildura team. Despite working hard all game, Ballarat were eventually beaten by 13 points.
Coach Travis Hewish said “the boys worked extremely well together all weekend and it was unfortunate that we couldn’t finish off a bit better”. Sam Short and Matt Geary were mentioned as Ballarat key players for the weekend.
2010 Junior Country Championships
The end April sees the closure of the 2010 Junior Country Championships for all age groups. Ballarat has performed exceptionally well this year with several teams now being ranked in the top ten in the state. This will set up a very favourable draw for next year competitions for these teams.
Ballarat Team Rankings 2010
- U/12 Boys 8th
- U/12 Girls 5th
- U/14 Boys 10th
- U/14 Girls 4th
- U/16 Boys 10th
- U/16 Girls 1st
- U/18 Boys 1st
- U/18 Girls 1st
Other Activities
Parent information night
A parent information night was held on 3 May with informative presentations:
- Basketball and study balance – presented by Guy Molloy (Miners Head Coach and Elite Performance Manager of Ballarat Basketball)
- Developing athleticism in juniors – presented by Scott Talpey (Strength and conditioning coach for the Miners)
- Overuse injuries in juniors – presented by Paula Grylewicz (Physiotherapist).
The speakers were excellent and we appreciated their expertise and willingness to discuss these important issues with our squad parents.
Skills development sessions
Tarriq Naqqash (Miners) and Amy Lewis (Lady Miners) have been conducting skills development sessions on Tuesday nights over eight weeks leading up to the June Tournament with the U12 squads. It is great to have support from the Miners/Lady Miners players.
Jarrod Scoines (Miners) has also been attending training on a weekly basis at the Arch on Wednesday evenings providing support and extra skills sessions for the U16 boys.
Miners Night
All Ballarat Representative Squad members were invited to attend the double header home game on Saturday 15 May as guests of the Ballarat Miners. The squad members were to be introduced at half time in the Miners game in recognition of their commitment to the Ballarat basketball program. Due to the disappointing response to this invitation the introductions were cancelled. On the night all players’ names were listed in the program and players acknowledged via announcements during the game.
Coming up…
National Junior Classic 2010
Congratulation to the four teams (U18 boys, U18 girls, U16 girls and U14 girls) that qualified for the National Junior Classic to be played over the long weekend in June, this is another fantastic effort and a tribute to players, coaches and team managers involved at each level. Well done. Play hard and give it your best!
The game times:
Under 18 Boys (Dandenong) |
Under 18 Girls (Dandenong) |
Under 16 Girls (Dandenong) |
Under 14 Girls (MSAC) |
Ballarat Junior Tournament
The eight teams representing Ballarat in the June Tournament are the U12 boys Blue and Gold teams and U12 girls Blue and Gold teams, U14 boys Gold team, U14 girls Gold team, U16 boys Gold team andU16 girls Gold team.
Good luck to all the players representing Ballarat in our home tournament we trust you will do us proud and put in your best effort.
Trivia Night - 2nd July 7pm at the Minerdome tickets $15 (drinks at bar prices and BYO supper). Following the success of this event last year, the BRP is again joining with the Miners, Lady Miners, Nuggets and Lady Nuggets for a repeat performance. Make sure you get in early to book your tickets.
BRP Committee - Welcome new member and seeking one more. We welcome Julie Fisher to the BRP Committee and look forward to her contribution. There is still one position available, so you would like to get involved with this great junior program think about joining the committee. For further information please contact Glenn White (BRP Committee meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month, an overview of the BRP Committee members role is posted on the BRP notice board).
The Miners and Lady Miners in SEABL and D-League are well into their seasons so get behind our teams, it’s a great way to see high quality basketball up close. Check out the fixtures at the Minerdome for the next home games.
MERCHANDISEBallarat Basketball Hoodies -
$50 each
Grey Marle with blue printing.
Compression shorts and tops
Get your order forms at the Minerdome office. Look at the
merchandise samples on display.
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The Ballarat Representative Program would like to thank the following sponsors for their support:
Gemmola’s Lunch Box & Gemmola’s Bakery Minerdome Bistro
City of Ballarat - come to life – Ballarat Bendigo Bank
