HAMILTON Basketball Association will have four juniors in attendance at the Basketball Victoria Country Under-12 Jamboree at Echuca-Moama, joining other players from across Victoria in the coming September school holidays.

Zanda Ewing, Willow Boughton, Yolanda O’Sullivan and Emily Iredell are the four players who have been invited to attend the event from the HBA

Basketball Victoria south west region administrator, Kira Ryan, was excited for the players selected as they will gain so much from this experience.

“To have the Jamboree happening again is great for basketball, as COVID has stopped it from happening since 2019 and to have four players from the Hamilton Basketball Association is exciting,” Ryan said.

South west region member associations from Hamilton, Warrnambool, Horsham, Portland, Port Fairy and Casterton all converged in Hamilton earlier this month, with players born in 2011 and 2012 selected to participate in a skills day from which there were a number of players invited to attend the Jamboree.

There was a total of 63 boys and 58 girls who attended the local skills day from which the individual players were invited to attend Jamboree.

Following the skills days around the state, Basketball Victoria invited 120 boys and 120 girls to attend the jamboree from September 17-20, where each individual player will be sorted into 10 teams for boys and 10 for the girls.

These teams live, train and play together for the duration of the camp, giving the players the experience of playing, training and living with people they don’t know so their individual skills are tested to the fullest.

Each team trains together each morning, before playing two games in the afternoon on each afternoon with an emphasis on the players having fun while also developing their individual skills.

“The players are exposed to the Basketball Victoria offensive and defensive systems, while developing their individual basketball IQ, and their skill levels through harder competition against the best players in their age group,” Ryan said.

“The whole Jamboree is a chance to get the kids having fun but also helping them to improve their skill levels while developing life skills through having to be away from their comfort zones.

 “The Jamboree is one of our favourite events as we get to see the newest age group of Country Victorian players enter the Victorian High-Performance pathway,” Basketball Victoria’s Craig Hockley said.

“Players and coaches have a great time at the Jamboree, learning plenty of new skills and making lifelong friends throughout Victoria. 

“It is an incredible opportunity that our most talented junior players have earned through their elite work at the Country Under-12 Skills Days.” 

The experience will not only assist the four juniors selected, but it will also help improve the standard at local level with the players no doubt learning new skills and techniques which can be shared with teammates back here in Hamilton.

With the 2022 event the first time in three years the event has gone ahead, it is yet another step forward for the junior talent pathway program.

It will also give the quartet a chance to fine tune their skills ahead of the annual Hamilton Junior Tournament which is scheduled for October 8 and 9.