Athletes To Watch at This Year’s Australian School Championships

The Australian School Championship is the largest event on the Australian Championship calendar, with last year’s tournament welcoming 170 teams from across Australia and New Zealand.

The 2019 event will see teams descend upon the State Basketball Centre and Dandenong Basketball Stadium this week for the five-day tournament.

The School Champs are open to all Australian secondary schools with athletes able to compete across U20, U17 and U15 tournaments for both men and women.

The best schools in the country will also compete in the Championship Division which features the top teams from each state and has previously included household names such as Dante Exum, Patty Mills, Mitch Creek and Tessa Lavey.

The 2019 tournament’s Championship Division will welcome an array of talented athletes who will be the future of Australian basketball.

We’ve looked at eight players to watch ahead of the tournament, with games officially kicking off tomorrow morning.

Boys (Championship Division)

Hunter Clarke – Lake Ginninderra

Clarke is a member of Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (COE) and the NBA Global Academy program. He represented Australia in 2018 at the FIBA U16 Asia Championship.

Blake Jones – Lake Ginninderra

Jones is a member of the COE and the NBA Global Academy program. He has previously represented Australia at the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup.

Kane Waters – Willetton

Waters is a member of the COE and the NBA Global Academy program. Waters won the 2018 U18 Australian Championships playing for WA.

Eoin Fitzgerald – Sydney Boys

Fitzgerald played for NSW Metro in the 2018 U16 Championships and averaged 20.78 points per game.

Girls (Championship Division)

Agnes Emma-Nnopu – Lake Ginninderra 

Emma-Nnopu is a COE athlete and has represented Australia on multiple junior occasions including the 2017 FIBA U16 Asia Championship. She has recently committed to playing for Stanford College for 2020.

Paige Price – Box Hill

Price was a COE athlete, but decided to make a return to Melbourne, recently making her debut in the WNBL for the Deakin University Melbourne Boomers. She represented Australia at the 2018 FIBA U15 Oceania Championships and was selected for the Australian team for the 2019 U16 Asia Cup.

Catriona Henderson – St Luke’s Grammar

Henderson was a key player for NSW Metro team in previous years and has represented Australia in multiple squads including the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup.

Layla-J Cameron – Hillcrest

Cameron was a key part of the Gold Coast U14 Championship in 2018 and more recently represented QLD South in the U16 Junior Championships as a bottom age.

You can keep updated on all the action from the tournament via Basketball Australia’s website or via Basketball Australia’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

The 2019 Australian School Championships will kick off tonight with an opening ceremony marking the beginning of the five-day tournament.

Basketball Australia

Powered by WPeMatico