CENTRAL’S PLAYER CHASING HIS HOOP DREAMS

At the start of the year all players in our U16 Div 1 Centrals team were asked to write down their short/mid/long terms goals.  A certain Centrals player has this month taken a step forward towards one of his goals of one day maybe donning the Green and Gold and representing Australia in basketball.

The player is Daniel Carlin, who has been invited to the Australian Emus Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in September. This camp is to help the team prepare for the FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament which will take place in Guam at the end of September.  It also will form the base of the team for the 2011 U19 World Championships.  At this stage, Daniel will be one of the few under aged players competing for an eventual spot in the U19s in 2011 and will have his work cut out for him over the coming years to get in ahead of the other athletes, 1 year older than him in many cases.

In 2006 Daniel was on the fringe of our Central's U14 Div 1 team that was struggling in the local competition and when we asked him a year later to try out for the U16 SA Metro team in 2007 he didn't even really comprehend what he was going to try out for or even whether he should try out.  History will show he did try out and since then he has made some great strides.  Andrew Jantke says “I attended and assisted the coaching staff at the trials in 2007 and felt he probably would not make the team but the coaching staff would keep him around for as long as possible to develop him for the year after.  However, under the State coach and current Adelaide 36ers Assistant Coach Liam Flynn, Daniel got better with every session and got picked for the team as a bottom aged player, which is a feat and looking back on how far he had developed in that time blew me away.”

Daniel has made the SA Metro U16 team for 2 years running, playing in GOSFORD(NSW) and Perth, he performed well in some big games at the recent Australian Nationals in Perth, made the All* 5 at the Basketball SA Talent Identification camp and has been putting in some very strong performances in the local District competition level.

Daniel has a relaxed, friendly demeanour rarely complains about his relatively heavy basketball training regime and never passes up the opportunity for extra individuals.  Coach Jantke says “I have been working with and/or played with a number of talented players trying to crack it at the top level during my 20 + yrs of district basketball involvement.  I believe Daniel's work ethic, coachability, ability to continually add new dimensions to his game and outstanding support network (in his parents and team mates) will help him develop to the next level where other players are not able to.  Daniel is never afraid do an extra individual session and over the past 6 months has regularly done an extra 1 or 2 individuals per week, where his intensity shines through, in addition to his already relatively heavy training regime. At other clubs I have seen elite athletes have to deal with the many “haters” who knock their elite players and try to play politics.  Centrals is different in this respect.  At Centrals Daniel has a great support network in his family and Friends. His parents were elite athletes themselves and epitomise how to deal with coaches and support their child in their endeavours. Many of his team mates, I believe, have been inspired by Daniel and worked hard to make it into the SASI program.”

Daniel  is acutely aware he has to continue to make significant strides if he is to succeed at the National, and perhaps one day, International level.    I am sure we can speak on behalf of his team mates, and their parents, coaching staff and all club members when I wish Daniel good luck as he continues his journey of fulfilling his goals to one day play for Australia.




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