BASKETBALL
By samuel darroch
A HEARING impediment has proved no barrier to success for Lavalla Catholic College basketballer Innika Hodgson.
The 13 year-old point guard achieved selection to play at the Australian Junior Basketball Championships in Ballarat later this month with Victorian Junior Basketball League side Dandenong Rangers.
Unable to hear her teammates clearly amid the on court rabble, Innika receives communication directly from her coach via an inner ear speaker.
“It’s the background noise (that I struggle with) so I wear a hearing aid and that’s worked out really well,” she said.
“He (the coach) just tells me the things I miss out on, sometimes I don’t hear things as well as everyone else does.”
Innika’s Rangers side qualified for the championships after finishing second on the VJBL ladder, losing just one game in the process.
The dedicated athlete, who makes the trip to Dandenong three nights a week for training, will have travel costs offset by a degree after being recognised as a Local Sporting Champion.
Innika received a $500 grant from Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester last week.
“It is a terrific effort from Innika to represent the Latrobe Valley at the Australian championships,” Chester said.
“She is a very grounded young athlete who has also represented the Gippsland region in netball. She has worked extremely hard to fulfil her potential and not let anything hold her back.”
Local Sporting Champions grants are available to individuals aged 12 to 18 years who travel more than 250 kilometres to compete at a state, national or international level championships, with teams who travel the same distance to compete at the highest level eligible to apply for $3000 grants.
For more information phone Mr Chester’s office on
1300 131 785 or apply online at
www.ausport.gov.au/champions
