In January, when a lot of other junior players were holidaying or simply enjoying their break U14 Sara-Rose Smith was playing in Basketball Victoria’s Southern Cross Challenge (SCC).

Sara had the opportunity to represent Vic Metro in this tournament and was lucky enough to be in the Grand Final winning team. Sara highlights that defeating the other Vic Metro team coached by Camberwell U14/1 Boys Head Coach Mark Jeffers was a massive bonus for the weekend as she was able to secure the bragging rights.

When asked about her favourite part of the SCC weekend Sara said ‘that it was the opportunity to play against the best players in my age group’ she also then added ‘I had time to get to know new people and create friendships with my team, opponents and coaches’.

This opportunity gave Sara the chance to learn different aspects of basketball while playing in a different environment with a different group of girls. Sara had a goal of being selected for the SCC team and was excited by the fact that once she put her mind to it and worked hard she was able to achieve this. Sara would like to thank the Camberwell coaches Cara, Prue, Char, Rachel and Justin as well as her teammates for supporting her.

As a club we would like to congratulate Sara and Mark again for being selected to represent Victoria at the Southern Cross Challenge. We would also like to emphasize that the only way to be identified for these opportunities is to attend Basketball Victoria camps if you’re lucky enough to be invited.