The Perry Lakes Hawks are in touch with the wider community with Coach of the Under 15 Men Travis Hayto working with kids from the Pilbara region.

Recently a team of 10 boys ranging from 13 to 16 years old travelled to Perth from the remote town of Onslow in the Pilbara for a basketball filled trip. The boys enjoyed paintballing, go karting, shopping and watching the Australian Boomers beat China by 2 points in overtime.

The trip was much deserved as they had been training hard for more than a year to compete at the Country Championships in Perth earlier this year. With a cyclone hitting up north the town was flooded and no one was able to leave. The boys were devastated but were promised a trip for good behaviour, attending school regularly and continuing to train hard.

Other than the Boomers game the friendly game against the under 15 Hawks Men, was looked forward to with much anticipation as bragging rights for the next year was on the line with Travis, as he regularly travels up to the region to conduct basketball with this particular group of boys.

The Onslow boys started off with a flyer getting up by 10 points within the first quarter. The Hawks gradually chipped away at the lead to bring it back to even at half time. The third quarter was a tight one with the Hawks just edging in front by 5 points to end the third. The week of paintballing, go karting and shopping had taken its toll and the Hawks pulled away in the final quarter.

Both teams thoroughly enjoyed the game with the entire group going out for dinner and forming some new friendships and sharing stories.