Sport
25 September, 2023
Team at national titles
THE first team from Cairns Basketball to compete in the U-14 Club National Championships in over five years is now on their way to challenge the best teams in the country in Melbourne from September 24-29.
Hosted by Basketball Australia and Casey Basketball Association, the U-14 Club Championships is the key pathway into elite competition where the best three club teams of each state compete to become the best in Australia, and as the current number three in Queensland, the under-14 Cairns Basketball girls’ team is ready to represent the raw talent of the Far North.
The 24 participating teams will be divided into six pools of four teams, and the top two teams in each pool will play for the championship division while third and fourth places compete for the shield division.
Led by captain Karesse Luki, the team of 10 girls are eager to represent Cairns.
“This has been the longest season the team has had,” said coach Callum Whiteside.
“The girls set up a list of goals they had, first was to get first place at the North Queensland Junior Basketball competition, which they did, and then they wanted to qualify for national so in June-July they competed in Toowoomba and qualified.
“Now their goal is to remain in the top two spots in their pool to go against the top tier teams in the championship division.
“They’ve done a lot of hard training, so now they get to go out and get the rewards from their hard work.”
Having held their last training on Wednesday, Mr Whiteside said the girls were excited to give this competition their all. The last two teams from Cairns Basketball to qualify to the club championships did it in 2019 and couldn’t go because of COVID, so we’re the first team to qualify since five or six years ago. It’s an exciting time for the team,” he said.
“We’re not a very tall team, but we’re athletic and play a very fast tempo game, but also these are 10 girls who really push themselves every time they step on the court, they are not quitting, and they really pride themselves in their work ethic. I’m extremely proud of what the team has achieved, and they’ll give their best until the end.”
