JUNIOR LAKERS FEATURE PROMINENTLY IN STATE BASKETBALL TEAMS
Basketball Mount Gambier junior basketball players lead the SA Country numbers of state representatives for the 2012 national events.
A total of seventeen junior Lakers will journey interstate to represent SA Country later this month.
Fourteen travel to Albury NSW, on Saturday to compete in the annual Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup and three leave on Friday for Port Macquarie to play in the Pacific Slam.
Those participating in The Cup are Matt Parslow, Matt Markiewicz, Jackson Trappett, Kane deWit, Samantha Loughhead, Brianna Walters, Georgia Green, and Malinda Maekiewicz, all in the Under 18 age groups.
Sam Stafford and Stephen Sochacki are members of the Under 16 teams and Michael Harris, Zach deWit, Brenna McKay, and Tenille Gray line up in the Under 14 teams.
Ebony McDiarmid, Rachael Hines and Brad Rathjen are members of The Slam teams.
Mount Gambier Junior Development officer, Trevor Semmens is Coach of the Sharks Under 14 Girls’ team in Albury and Melissa Rathjen is Manager of the Slam Under 15 Boys’ team heading to Port Macquarie.
Sharon Venn and Beth Serle also attend Albury as Cup Administrators.
2012 is the 26th year of the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup.
The Cup was first held in 1985 and consisted of 36 teams from Country Victoria, NSW and SA.
This year a record number of 64 teams will play in 256 games involving more than 900 players, coaches and officials. Another 1000 plus spectators and families will visit the Border City to attend The Cup.
The games will be played at The Lauren Jackson Sports Centre Albury, the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre and Scotch College Albury. The program begins on Monday January 15th with the Official Opening Ceremony at Wodonga and matches follow through the week. Finals are played on Friday and Saturday.
Teams from across Country Australia including WA, Tasmania, NSW, Victoria and SA along with New Zealand will compete in the Under 14, 16 and 18 Boys and Girls age groups.
A quick look through the Honour Board of The Cup highlights the reason for young basketball players and families being keen to travel and be involved in The Cup. An impressive 84 basketballers who have played in this event have gone on to represent Australia or New Zealand at international events.
The Pacific Slam is run by a consortium of sports business men and has representatives from Queensland, WA Country, NSW Country and Metropolitan, SA Country and New Zealand participating in seven days of competitions.
This is the 11th year of The Slam, which involves Under 15 and 17 Boys and Girls teams.
Both events cater for all aspects of junior basketball. Coaches Clinics and Referees Education are part of the week long program.
Colourful Brendan Joyce is guest coach for the Tasman Coaching Clinic in Albury.
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.