While the weather has been cold the Bellarine Storm program has been heating up the hardwood. The club has announced the addition of its first senior state league teams to participate in the Country Basketball League (CBL) in the coming summer. The addition of a senior program expands the clubs development pathway to provide opportunities for players post juniors. High Performance Manager Tim Sanderson said “Adding a senior pathway has been a priority of the club since I arrived in the position. We felt we needed to establish opportunities for players to continue their basketball careers without being forced to look outside our program to other clubs. The addition of the CBL teams was a logical step in establishing this pathway at Bellarine.”
Following on from the CBL announcement the club received news of a state selection for one of its upcoming young stars. After an intense two day selection camp in Melbourne, Indiana Schwarz was selected to represent her state in the School Sport Victoria 12 years and under team. The selection will see Indiana, the daughter of Melbourne AFL champion David Schwarz, head to the Northern Territory in August to compete in the School Sport Australia national championships. Bellarine High Performance Manager Tim Sanderson said of the selection “Indi is becoming a really good young athlete. She works hard and is developing skills that will continue to give her opportunities in the sport. She truly earned this selection and I believe she has the potential to achieve further high honours in the coming years.” Schwarz will join her team mates for a number of training camps before heading to Darwin for the championships on August 11.
With all the noise focused around senior pathways and state selections an unbelievable individual performance almost went unnoticed. On the road at Geelong’s new AWA stadium under 12 Storm player Keegan Johnson had a night out! Johnson scorched the nets coming away with a staggering 40 point performance leading his Bellarine under 12 2 boys team to a thumping 66-33 victory over Geelong 3. Johnson’s 20 field goals outshot the 15 made by the entire Supercats team, with a further seven team mates chipping in to ensure the result was put well beyond doubt. The under 12 2 boys sit on the perch of their respective ladder with a 12-1 season record.