Balls bouncing there and everywhere, sideline cheers from parents full of pride and a genuine love for the game filled Elphin Sports Centre.
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But there was a more serious side to the second round of Basketball Tasmania’s junior tri-series at the weekend.
Multiple regional teams from across the state in the under-10, 12, 14, 16 and 18, both boys and girls, divisions played in the annual series.
But Basketball Tasmania events manager Scott Boucher added that the tri-series also acted as qualifiers for the under-14 teams.
The top two continue on to the national titles in October.
“It’s a fantastic experience, giving a picture of where they are in the basketball world,” he said, “what they’ve got to do to keep up and how much work is required.”
The boys from the North are assured of a spot at the next stage against the nation’s premier associations.
The North enters the final round in Devonport comfortable with a 5-1 record ahead of the North West on 3-2 and the South on 0-5.
But the North girls are yet to win any of their six games, trailing the North West 5-0 and the South 3-2.
The Australian winners are set to join the NBA world championship in Florida.
“There’s a lot on the line for our under-14 sides,” he said.
The North held top spots at under-12 level, with the Red boys holding a 5-0 record and the Black girls finishing the round in Launceston 4-1.
Boucher said the tri-series is now a recognised breeding ground to provide the “next level” of competition for the state’s three regions outside the club game.
“It also introduces to these younger-age groups the travelling concept where you have a weekend or a week away playing in this real tournament-style of competition,” he said.
The Tasmanian under-18s are the most recent product of that grounding, winning six games in a row before bowing out in the Australian boys’ bronze-medal game
“This is where we start our development, in particularly the 11-year-olds, in the state-style of play,” Boucher said.
“We have a style that in these programs the kids start to learn that from under-12s.
“The end result is that we have been doing this for five good years; that under-18 group is the end result of the team that came up from the under-12 level.
“They’ve learned that style all the way through and have perfected all of the offences, the plays and things.”