Kids ball as Basketball Tasmania state championships continue
Schools from across Tasmania battled it out on courts during the weekend as part of the Basketball Tasmania's primary school state championships.
In the North, kids from grades 3 and 4 hit the paint at Launceston's Elphin Sports Centre, showing plenty of promise for basketball's future in the state at a grassroots level.
Basketball Tasmania chief executive Chris McCoy said this year's competitions have been squeezed into six months as opposed to the usual nine, making for a much faster paced challenge.
St Anthony's Eve de Deuge and Deloraine's Chloe Neate.
"It really condensed a lot of our events including the state championships," he said.
"It was a big calendar ... it's been record numbers for all our events which has been really pleasing.
"The Launceston event is too big to have in just one weekend ... last weekend we had 19 courts going throughout the state as it was so it's a big event."
St Thomas More's Eddie Richardson dodges Sacred Heart's Max Robinson.
McCoy said the concentrated seasons made certain aspects of the competition difficult.
"It's made it difficult for the events team, it's made it difficult to keep the high level of referees going in that time, there's been impacts on the sport," he said.
"The good thing is that everyone's appreciated being back on court - we could've been a lot worse."
St Anthony's Mia Greatbatch and Esther Duffy against Deloraine's Sharlet Aylett, Eva Milne and Adarie Bloomfield.
McCoy added the competition showed not only the breadth of talent at various skill levels, but also a level of school pride from the children.
In other news:
"It's really nice to see the primary schools ... it's additional players to our mainstream membership," he said.
"A lot of players don't play in associations or clubs so it gives them a good chance to play a game and see if they like it.
"There's a progress element - there's a high level for the division one teams, and then there's a real participation element too for division two and three ... a lot of the smaller schools can enter division three and play at their standard there."
The best teams from the grades 3 and 4 in each region will now head to the state championships, also to be held at Elphin Sports Centre in Launceston, slated for early December.
Sacred Heart's Finlay Jamieson, Timothy Innes and Jackson Quill and St Thomas More's Nixon Coombes.
Northern division champions:
- Primary 3-4 boys div 1: Sacred Heart Davie 35 d Norwood Primary 23.
- Primary 3-4 girls div 1: Sacred Heart Viney 23 d Riverside Gibson 16.
- Primary 3-4 boys div 2: St Finn Barr's 34 d St Thomas More's Tasker 29.
- Primary 3-4 girls div 2: St Ant's 14 d Deloraine 12.
- Primary 3-4 boys div 3: Youngtown Primary 42 d St Anthony's 16.
- Primary 3-4 girls div 3: Hagley Bulls 14 d Youngtown Primary 9.