Underdogs ready for nationals
They have just half a court to practise on, but that hasn’t stopped Onewhero Area School making it to the national secondary schools basketball competition, the Schick Premierships.
The tournament will take place next week in Palmerston North, and Onewhero will take 11 players to the event. The team is coached by Dave Hopoi, who played for the Breakers and the Junior Tall Blacks.
Team manager Donna Allely said she was extremely proud of how far the boys had come. In last year’s qualifiers they were 13th out of 20, and this year they were fifth.
She wanted them to go out and show the rest of the country what they were made of.
‘‘Our goals are to be competitive against the schools that we know are bigger than we are and to win as many games as we possibly can.
‘‘We’ve got quite a few younger players who are learning how to play at the level that needs to be played at for this competition.’’
She said making nationals again was a huge feat, considering the pool of talent they had to choose from. They will play in a grade with other schools who have less than 600 students in total.
‘‘We are an area school which means we have a smaller pool of boys to choose from.
‘‘It’s just a great experience. It’s a goal that we had set, to make it to nationals, and we’ve achieved that.
‘‘This being our second year helps a lot.’’
They will play eight games in total, and have been practising three times a week in the lead up to the event.
They have also been out in the community fundraising to get to the competition, from cleaning windows, to gardening.
‘‘The community has really rallied around us, and have been really generous.’’
Allely said she had high hopes for the team.
‘‘All of us are so proud of what they have achieved and we are looking forward to seeing what they achieve - watch this space. ‘‘
The team has a givealittle page if you would like to donate: givealittle.co.nz/cause/ onewheroschool