Ballarat Juniors to represent Victoria Country

Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup

Basketball Ballarat has had 13 junior representative players selected to attend the 2016 Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup to be held in Albury – Wodonga next week. The age groups run from U/14 to U/18 for both boys and girls and the event runs over six days.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the competition, which continues to go from strength to strength.

The first cup was held in 1987 and consisted of 28 teams from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

There will be at least 64 teams this year with more than 700 players, coaches and officials taking part.

Another 1500 people are expected to visit the border, which includes spectators and families.

Teams from New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand attend the Cup.

A quick look through the honour roll of Cup representatives highlights just why young basketball players and their families are prepared to travel to this event.

More than 80 basketball players who have participated in this competition have gone on to represent Australia or New Zealand at international events over the years.

Our 2016 Representatives are:

 

Under 16 Boys

Jarrod Curran

 

Under 16 Girls

Georgia Amoore

Isabella Hill

Sophie Molan

 

Under 18 Boys

Josh Kunen

Under 18 Girls

Taylah Wynne

Laura Taylor

 

Under 14 Boys

Nathan Sutton

Liam Howard

 

Under 14 Girls

Annie Collins

Talia Hurdsfield

Brydi Hutcinson

Demi Thompson

 

Local area coaches also attending the Cup are:

 

U/14 Boys Assistant coach Paul Hotchin

U/16 Boys Assistant coach Brad Cartledge

U/18 Boys Assistant coach Daniel Knaggs

U/16 Boys Head coach Nathan Cooper Brown

U/18 Girls Head Coach Lucas Burke

U/18 Boys head coach Rob Baker

U/18 Boys Mentor coach Ray Borner

 

Southern Cross Challenge

The first Challenge was held in Ballarat in 2011

The Southern Cross Challenge (SCC) is an Under 14 and Under 15 basketball competition for boys and girls that features games between teams from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT. In most cases, each state is represented by teams from both the country and metropolitan region.

The competition is clearly defined as developmental.

The event which will be held at the State Basketball Centre at Wantirna, will start with training courts available on Thursday 14th January 2016.

Competition will start on Friday 15th January and conclude on Monday 18th January 2016.

While the competition is focussed heavily on development for players, coaches and referees there are four perpetual awards named after Victorian basketball heroes David Andersen, Matthew Dellavedova, Rachel Jarry and Jenna O’Hea. These perpetual trophies are awarded to the highest placed team in each competition

Some 40 teams, 400 athletes, 80 coaches, 40 referees, 10 referee coaches will be at the Challenge this month.

 

Our 2016 Representatives are:

 

Southern Cross

Under 14 Boys

Tyson Marnell

 

Under 15 Boys

Ethan Fiegart

William Hynes

 

Under 14 Girls

Maggie Kratochvil

 

Local area coaches also attending the Challenge:

U/14 Girls Assistant coach Melinda Jones

 

Basketball Victoria Operations Manager Grant Wallace was full of praise for all the athletes considered for the Southern Cross Challenge Victorian squads.

“We’re thrilled with the large cross-section of associations that are represented within these squads”, said Wallace.

“The commitment and contribution to athlete development at local level is to be applauded, and the talent is a direct reflection of all the work both the athletes and coaches have put in over the last few years”.

“As is always the case, we expect both our Country and Metro team’s to perform well, and we look forward to working with the squads at the event.”