Basketball ACT Squad Announcement – Under 20 Australian Junior Championships

Basketball ACT have named strong Under 20 Men’s and Women’s squads for the upcoming Under 20 Australian Junior Championships, to be held at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra from 5-9 February 2020. The event will see the best Under 20’s talent from around Australia representing their state and territories across men’s and women’s competitions and has long been a pathway to higher national honours. Past players who have competed at the Championships have included triple Olympian Patty Mills and seven-time WNBL Champion Natalie Hurst, who both represented the ACT.

The ACT Under 20’s Men’s has named a team that will focus on its ball-handling and shooting strengths to make an impression on the 2020 Championships. “Being small, we will need to run at every opportunity and take advantage of the strengths of our ball handlers and their ability to get to the rim.” Coach Dan Jackson said. “At the other end of the court, we are going to need to junk it up on defense, through pressing or playing zone throughout each game.”

“If we can play hard, defend, rebound and run, the rest will take care of itself.”

ACT U20’s Men

Harry Matthews (Norths) Dylan Giles (Vikings)
Robbie Emelifeonwu (Rats) James Hurley (Queanbeyan)
Dhal Feig (Wests) Amath Fall (Norths)
Hunter Clarke (NBA Global Academy) Alex Archer (Wests)
Zac Mcdermott (Norths) Angus Williams (Norths)
Coach – Dan Jackson Asst Coach – Andrew Martin
Manager – Andrew Coulter Asst Coach – Cameron Barnes

Meanwhile the Under 20 Women’s squad has been selected from across the ACT, Northern Territory, NSW and Victoria, to form the Allies for the Championships. With distance playing a part in how the team prepares, coach Matt Paton, from the Centre of Excellence (COE), has highlighted the player’s character and drive, as a way to over-come this hurdle. “With an abbreviated preparation, our focus will obviously be trying to gel as a team as quickly as possible. The young women we have selected are all high-performance athletes of great character and are driven to succeed, so what we may initially lack in chemistry as a group we will more than compensate for with high energy and a strong work ethic.”

“In terms of our playing style, we will keep it relatively straight-forward and simply strive to improve with each game, ensuring a positive experience for all of our representing athletes.”

Allies U20’s Women

Maddie Wheatley (ACT) Sarah Cooper (ACT)
Chloe Hope (ACT) April Rummery-Lamb (NT)
Zoe Ramshaw (ACT) Elles van der Maas (NSW)
Natasha Lyall (ACT) Bronte Corke (NSW)
Kelsey Maher (ACT) Hannah Rapp (Victoria)
Coach – Matt Paton (COE) Asst Coach – Tania Dhu (NT)
Manager – Anita Wallace (ACT) Asst Coach – Shane Wallace (ACT)