ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
BASKETBALL
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
MOE Meteors’ Division 1 Under 14 girls team are currently competing in the Under-14 Club Championships in Casey.
The exclusive invite-only tournament sees the best 48 club teams from around Australia compete on the big stage at Casey Stadium.
This is the second time in the club’s history that a Moe Meteor team has competed at the national level, the first of which was captained by none other than home grown college basketball star Jaz Shelley.
From September 24 to 29, the Meteors from Moe will be able to showcase what they can do to a national audience with talent identification opportunities.
In its 50 years of operation, the U14 Club Championships have helped nurture the emergence of junior athletes.
Under the current format for the championships, the 24 teams are divided into six pools of four teams and play a round robin competition.
The top two teams in each pool then play for the Championship Division and the teams placed third and fourth in each pool compete for the Shield Division.
Speaking before the tournament, captain Marah Xerri, who led her team to a Division 1 Championship, said it was great to be on the national stage.
“I think it’s very exciting … very proud of the girls and what we achieved,” she said.
Young Xerri is keen to see what the team can accomplish with the bigger challenge of nationals.
“There’s nerves because it’s going to be a very strong competition and I think (we’re) just excited and ready to see what we can do,” she added.
Coach Hollie Jackson could not be prouder of her team after receiving their invite to the nationals.
“We have trained really hard – putting a lot of effort in on and off the court, building the team and the camaraderie,” she said.
Jackson has built the team since they began squad in under 8’s, having years and years of consistency, friendship, shared knowledge and court connection under their belt.
The Moe team has been hard at work preparing for the big event.
“We’ve trained harder and longer, we’ve got some more offensive strategies put in place. We run our team on defense first because defence creates offence and we play a really fast running game so we’re hoping our speed and agility make other teams come unstuck with height and slower pace,” Jackson said.
The young athletes from Moe will have the chance to be scouted for professional pathways from the club championships.
“At Basketball Australia events there are scouts that come along, there are also higher pathways coaching staff and interstate staff that look for players to go to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and elite colleges in Melbourne and sporting academies – so it will definitely give them the exposure that will lead to further pathways,” Jackson said.
Young female participation in sport has come a long way, with the Moe Meteors girls who showcase the amazing talent in our region.
“The recognition from sponsors that are wanting to put money in women’s sport, girls sport, youth sport in general is really stepping up and that’s why these girls can go and travel and do exciting things,” Jackson said.
Every player on the Moe Meteors team have been individually sponsored for the prestigious tournament, with each payer receiving two sets of playing kits and ceremonial uniforms.
Moe Racing Club and Don’t Dis My Abilities have both come on board to sponsor the entire team.
