By TOM HAYES
A PAIR of Lowanna College students have reached new heights in their respective sports, with many thanks to the school’s sports academy.
Year 12 student Ricky Mentha and Year 10 student Cooper Belsham have both taken their games to the next level.
Mentha, a footballer, is currently in his draft year and will hope to be drafted at the end of the year.
Belsham is a basketballer, who continues to be picked by representative sides, only giving himself more exposure in the basketballing world.
Collectively, the duo has been taught that “taking things easy isn’t the way to always go, but pushing yourself to the next level is”.
Belsham has been selected for the state combine, and the state U16s squad, with hopes to play at Nationals toward the end of the year.
He says the sports academy has helped him get to that stage.
“It’s been really good. All of the training and stuff is making me push to my next level,” Belsham said.
With plenty of opportunities, and time, ahead of him, Belsham hopes to continue to get better and gain more exposure for himself through representative opportunities.
Lately, Belsham earnt the opportunity to represent one of two Australian teams in Abu Dhabi for the NBA School Tournament.
“It was an amazing experience playing with all of those people, versing other countries,” he said.
While away, Belsham trained and played against other countries from all over the world.
Lowanna College Sports Academy Strength and Conditioning Coach, Malcolm Swinley is proud of Belsham, and the steps he has taken so far in his career.
“He travels from a fair way (Longwarry) to come here which is great,” Swinley said.
“I think he’s got great leadership qualities, he’s always been a strong kid, and when he first came here, he was a little bit lost.”
He says that Belsham has fit into the region well and is working on his profile and local identity.
Keep an eye out for stories on this young lad in the future.
Mentha is currently in his final year of school and has a great potential to be drafted to the AFL at the end of the year.
Looking forward to the end of the year, he has a long path ahead of him, but in 2024 he said, “hopefully I get drafted to the AFL … and (finish) Year 12”.
Mentha has spoken to 12 AFL clubs and is also a part of the AFL Academy.
On Grand Final day last year, Mentha stepped foot on the MCG before the big game to play in a big game of his own – the AFL Futures match.
At the time as a bottom-ager, he got to play amongst and against the best bottom-aged players in the country, on the biggest stage of them all while the Grand Final crowd was piling in.
“It was elite, pretty hot though! The game was real fast,” he said.
Head Coach of the Lowanna College Sports Academy, Allan Chandler has nothing but praise for Mentha.
“With Ricky, I’ve been super impressed with the growth that he’s had over the year. Not just on the footy field, but stuff away from that,” he said.
Not only has Mentha come out of his shell, after originally coming from the Northen Territory, but he has worked on his nutrition which has helped him tenfold.
Thanks to the Lowanna College Sports Academy partnerships with Nike PTS for example, students like Mentha and Belsham have equipment supplied through the college, as they sponsor them on their journeys from the beginning.
“The biggest one for us is giving them the opportunities and to get them to where they wanna go,” Chandler said.
“It’s very hard down here (Gippsland) compared to Melbourne.”