TWO of Portland’s youngest senior Coasters players are taking their basketball to the next level over winter, with Tyleah Barr and Summer Millard competing in the Big V and NBL1 competitions.

It’s a big step for both players with Barr joining Warrnambool’s division one Big V team while Millard will compete across the border with Mount Gambier in the NBL1 competition.

For the 17-year-old Barr it is expected to be a busy season as she completes Year 12 at Monivae College and will be playing with Portland’s 17-and-under and open netball sides in the Hampden Football Netball League.

While she has a lot on her plate, she says sporting-wise basketball with the Mermaids will be her main priority on weekends.

“I’m putting Big V as my top priority, I’ll train twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday in Warrnambool and then I’ll alternate some Saturdays, I won’t play three games a day,” she said.

“It’ll be one game of netball and then Big V when it comes down to it.

“It’s a lot of travel and I guess school goes above everything else but I can get most of my study done in school. I do enjoy school, sometimes it can get a bit much, but I’m counting down the days – 121.”

It will be a new level of basketball for Barr who was recently a staple in Portland’s Country Basketball League women’s side and competing in the under-18 girls’ team.

It took a bit of prompting to get involved in the Warrnambool team but since the first training Barr hasn’t looked back with championship coach Lee Primmer setting a high standard.

“Lee coached the under-18 girls for two years so he knew who I was, initially when the information came out about playing I spoke with mum and we thought I’d give it a miss because of Year 12 and everything but then one of the girls message me asking me to come and try out so I thought alright I’ll give it a go,” she said.

“I went to the first try out and really liked it so then I was like I might as well keep going with it. They’re a really good bunch of girls and so far I’ve loved training with them.

“It was a lot more intense at training, I do enjoy it but it is really hard – it’ll help our game though and make it better out on court.

“It’ll be different – I’m not as much of a big in Warrnambool as I was in juniors and CBL so I’ll be more of a guard over there and have to learn how to run plays and that kind of thing which is weird.

“I think I prefer being a guard, not so much all the running and setting the plays, but being out the front.”

Preparation for the season has been ramping up across the past few weeks with the team participating in a training camp in Warrnambool on the weekend.

Barr said it was a great experience and pushed her outside of her comfort zone.

“We had an overnight camp on the weekend and that was good, we did a lot of things out of my comfort zone like an Amazing Race on the Friday night and some team bonding and dinner on Friday night and then we did the Cold Culture ice baths at 6.30am in the morning – I am never doing that again by choice,” she laughed.

“We also did some one-on-one training, a pilates class and then a two-hour normal training of running through our plays and scrimmaging because round one is not far away next weekend.”

The Big V season kicks off on Saturday March 18 when the Mermaids take on Bellarine in Warrnambool at 5.30pm.

Summer suits up for Mount Gambier

Across the border Millard has been training with NBL1 South team Mount Gambier Pioneers and on the weekend suited up to compete in one of their practice matches.

Millard will be playing alongside some impressive basketballers as well as other junior players who are being included in the squad.

So far the 15-year-old has enjoyed the training experience and support and is looking forward to more playing time in the coming weeks.

“The coaches have been really supportive, it’s a really good atmosphere within the group,” she said.

“There’s a good structure to the group, but at the same time we’re encouraged to play with freedom.

“I tried out a spin move during the game and while it didn’t come off, my teammates and coaches on the bench celebrated and encouraged me to go again.

“There’s a big emphasis on playing for the team, if you make a mistake you need to pick yourself up and go again.

“I’m excited to play in the Adelaide Classic which is coming up, that’s the event I have my eyes on at the moment.”

While developing her basketball is a main focus she is also making sure she gets the most out of the experience and being a part of a different team and league.

“It’s a good social thing as well, a lot of the girls are a similar age to me so meeting them and getting to know them has been great,” she said.

“That’s the part that I really enjoy about the tournaments as well, meeting new people from other states who are playing basketball at a high level.

“Even since I started with them not too long ago I’ve noticed a lot of improvement, like when I went away with Coasters for the state championships, there was a big difference in my game.

“At the same time, I’m just trying to enjoy the experience, there’s not much point in doing all this training and travel if you’re not enjoying it.”

The effort she is putting in now is all working towards her main basketball goal.

“Long term, I’m hoping to one day get the opportunity to go to America to play college basketball… obviously that’s a few years away at this stage but it’s something to aspire to,” she said.

The NBL1 season is scheduled to start on April 1 with Mount Gambier set to play Sandringham.