THE future of Swan Hill basketball is in good hands, with 11 junior basketballers selected in this year’s Basketball Victoria future development program country academy.
Some of Swan Hill’s junior hoopers attended a skills day in Swan Hill in March, with seven girls and four boys chosen to take part in the program.
The country academy is the second step of Basketball Victoria’s high-performance pathway for the under-14 age group.
The group have been training hard under the coaching of SHBA president Sharon Denham, as the young basketballers vie for a spot in the prestigious Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup.
Denham said Swan Hill’s junior basketballers chosen for the academy would be training hard between now and August.
“We train each week,” Denham said.
“Between April and August, we have to ensure that these kids have trained at least 20 hours, which they all happily do, the majority of them train even more than that during the time.
“The kids get selected, train with us and then some of them are selected to play for Basketball Victoria at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in January.”
Ms Denham said the country academy “is a level above all of our local and representative games”.
“This is a part of the north-west academy, which spans all the way from Echuca up to Mildura,” she said.
“It’s up to the children to decide if they want to be a part of an academy program and want to put in the work to get there.
“We’ve got a hub here in Swan Hill, so we hold a couple of camps with the other hubs in Echuca and Mildura and the children get selected from there.”
Ms Denham said opportunities like this were key for young basketballers who live in regional areas looking to take the next step in the sport.
“It’s something that I think is great for the town,” she said.
“In Swan Hill, we are so far away from everywhere else.
“This is something for kids who just want to be better basketballers, and who want to go away and play at a higher level.”
SELECTED PLAYERS
Boys:
Mityen McInnes
Henry O’Bryan
Archie O’Brien
Chayse Worner
Girls:
Zarli Anderson
Laela Grayling
Evie Kelly
Lily Nalder
Asha Neuschafer
Lola Patterson
Kiara Van Coller
