MORE than two-hundred bright-futured basketballers will converge on Selkirk Stadium next week as part of a regular pathway event with Basketball Victoria.<\/p>\n
The organisation\u2019s annual Gold Nugget Camp will this year see 275 under 14 and 15 hoop hitters showcase their skills on the court with a boys\u2019 session on Wednesday followed by girls on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Basketball Victoria\u2019s high-performance head coach for country men Nathan Cooper-Brown will lead the sessions and said the camp is the organisation\u2019s flagship pathway event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been running for, I think, close to 30 years,\u201d he said. \u201cWe bring in our under 14s who work on their game as part of our future development program across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pick our tournament teams from this camp. For under 14s we have two teams that\u2019ll go away to the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we have two under 14s and two under 15s teams that will go into the Southern Cross Challenge in Melbourne. For the under 15s it\u2019s their first opportunity to represent their state in the nationals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time spent in this future development program and those academies can really springboard athletes because there\u2019s significant jumps made to under 15s and under 16s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between 10 and 12 players will be chosen from the group of participants to take part in the upcoming initiatives, with this year\u2019s intake featuring 150 male and 130 female athletes.<\/p>\n
Of the under 14s basketballers taking part in the event, four boys and seven girls are local.<\/p>\n
With the event held predominantly in Ballarat, Mr Cooper-Brown said it showcases the region as a prime basketball location.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as I\u2019ve been in the program, it\u2019s been at Ballarat so at least the last five years. It\u2019s definitely synonymous with Ballarat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city\u2019s an important part of country Victoria basketball. It\u2019s got a large community that supports the game. We\u2019ve had a lot of coaches, athletes, volunteers come out of that region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than two-hundred bright-futured basketballers will converge on Selkirk Stadium next week as part of a regular pathway event with Basketball Victoria. The organisation\u2019s annual Gold Nugget Camp will this year see 275 under 14 and 15 hoop hitters showcase their skills on the court with a boys\u2019 session on Wednesday followed by girls on […]<\/p>\n