Smoothing path to take on the world
FROM life on a humble school basketball court to US adventures, Hillcrest Christian College is helping Gold Coast talent in taking on the world.
The Burleigh Waters school is celebrating the launch of its latest international exports, with Flynn Cameron, Sophie Johnston and Levi Frankland among the recent alumni to link with US colleges.
Led by head coach Steve Weiland and girls mentor and FIBA hall of famer Pero Cameron, Hillcrest has claimed a string of awards including first in 2016 at the Champion Basketball Schools Queensland senior boys division.
Armed with the momentum of the Commonwealth Games and fuelled by an ever-evolving culture, director of basketball Andrew Taylor says Hillcrest is leading the way.
“The basketball program at Hillcrest Christian College is also one of the best in the Queensland and nationally,” he said. “We currently have 100 student athletes participating in the college basketball excellence program.
“And in the last 12 months a number of our student athletes have gained, or are close to gaining, full basketball scholarships at US colleges.”
Taylor said maintaining
academic levels was a key to the overall success.
“With high level academic achievement required to be eligible to play US college basketball, the college provides the opportunity through monitoring and support programs to ensure every student athlete has the opportunity to pursue their dream,” he said.
“The school provides free one-to-one tutoring ... small group supervised study sessions every day after school, and coaches actively monitor student athletes.”