BASKETBALL action hit Hamilton on Tuesday as excited kids came together at Monivae College for a clinic hosted by ‘Own the Rock’ coach, Michael Todorovic.

There was a solid turnout of youngsters keen to run around and learn some skills despite the hot weather.

The organisation is based in Queensland and runs sports camps and clinics for young kids, but it has branched out to other states including Victoria.

Todorovic has plenty of experience in the basketball landscape and having been a National Basketball League (NBL) listed player in the past, he knows how important development is for the game.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic, it’s been a very hard two years on everyone and every industry, but it’s been really good to get the kids out here,” he told The Spectator.

“(it’s important) to reintroduce them to that whole social dynamic that they have missed and playing basketball as well.”

Own the Rock head coach, Travis Fisher, is based in Queensland and got Todorovic on board as a coach more recently to try and expand the program down into Victoria.

He said it was a no-brainer to have such an experienced campaigner who was based in Geelong to do some work at regional areas in the state such as Hamilton.

 It was Todorovic’s first clinic since he became a coach for the organisation and he loved interacting to improve the skills of the enthusiastic kids.

“I’ve 100 per cent enjoyed it, this was my first clinic, and it was definitely a great experience, I really resonated with his (Fisher’s) message and why he’s doing this,” he said.

“He’s bringing basketball to certain areas that may not be exposed to that type of training or even that type of environment.”

Despite being the one teaching the kids new skills and helping them improve on the day, Todorovic felt that he gained a lot from the clinics as well.

“The biggest takeaway for me is I love learning from children because they are very spontaneous, have no filter in the sense that they are just very open, I’m learning as much from them as they would be from me,” he said.

“If the opportunity is there (to come back to Hamilton), I will 100 per cent look it over and see if I am going to be available for that.”

Dunkeld’s Myles Haley participated in the clinic and said he jumped at the opportunity as soon as he heard about the plans to come down this way.

He felt it was a great opportunity to hone his skills and continue to develop with some assistance from an experienced basketballer in Todorovic.

“It was good fun to get out and do something in the school holidays, it was tiring but you learn a fair bit of fundamentals and all that sort of stuff,” he said.

“I learnt to be consistent and work hard as he said at the start and finish, as well as teamwork and all of the core strengths in basketball.”

The 14-year-old said he would embrace the opportunity to participate in another clinic with Own the Rock if it presented itself in the future. The timing was also beneficial with the Hamilton Basketball Association junior season resuming in less than two weeks.