With the cancellation of the under 18 Australian Junior Championships in 2020 due to COVID 19 it has forced some creative thinking for player development, so for the first time South Australia will nominate two teams for both Women’s and Men’s grades at the Under 20 Australian Junior Championships in 2021.

Mount Gambier native Emily Close is one of the Athletes that has been selected to represent South Australia.

Emily was understandably pumped for the opportunity to represent her state again, ‘It’s so exciting to be playing basketball at a higher level, I’m really looking forward to finishing my state junior representation journey.’

Two teams will be selected from the squad the first team – SA Red, will be made up of the state’s best ten players. The second team – SA Blue, will be selected to be competitive at Australian Junior Championship level, but will have a longer team player development focus.

Given the affect COVID 19 has had on life in general let alone sport Emily clearly understands how fortunate she is to be in this position, ‘Not being able to play sport at all has made me really appreciate the opportunity to simply train and play with my friends.’

Emily and other squad members will resume practice in December following the completion of university and school exams. The teams will be selected at this time.