Livestream: Junior basketball, Under 14 Australian Club Championships, schedule (U14 Basketball Club Championships)

The country’s best young basketball talents hit Sydney for the Australian U14 Club Championships for six days from Sunday. Here are the Queenslanders aiming to bring home gold.

The country’s best young basketball talents will take to the court at Penrith for the Australian Under-14 Club Championships this weekend with six Queensland teams aiming to bring home gold.

Both Southern Districts Spartans’ boys and girls teams will be looking to add to their state championships from earlier this year while the Mackay Meteorettes and Townsville Flames round out the state’s female contingent at the event from September 25-30.

On the boys side, the Gold Coast Rollers and Rockhampton Rockets will also represent Queensland.

The tournament will be livestreamed by NewsCorp.

“This year’s under-14 age group is an extremely talented cohort of players,” Basketball Queensland’s state performance manager, Luke Cann, said.

“It will be good test for our Queensland teams to gauge where they are ranked against the rest of the top teams in Australia.

“I think we have a real chance to take out the Nationals as we are particularly strong in the girls competition.”

As these young stars prepare for arguably their biggest tournament of their short careers, The Courier-Mail spoke to the athletes about what they are looking forward to most.

Meet all the players representing Queensland below.

GOLD COAST ROLLERS

Jayden Cecil, 13, Guard

Jayden Cecil from the Gold Coast Rollers.

I am looking forward to representing my association at nationals and going to do everything in my power to bring back that gold.

Judd Bright, 13, Guard

Judd Bright from the Gold Coast Rollers.

I’m looking forward to spending time with my teammates and playing the sport I love against the best players in the country.

Billy Brazenall, 13, Guard

Billy Brazenall from the GC Rollers.

I can’t wait to head to Sydney to compete against the best players in Australia with my teammates. We are going to bring home the gold.

Elijah Tuupo, 12, Forward

Elijah Tuupo from the GC Rollers.

I’ve been waiting since January to represent GC on a National stage and compete against the best in the country and bring home the gold. I can’t wait.

Nicholas Hall, 12, Forward

Nicholas Hall from the Gold Coast Rollers.

I’m looking forward to the experience and opportunity to play against the best at Nationals.

Cooper McGregor, 12, Guard

Cooper McGregor from the GC Rollers.

It’s a honour to represent Gold Coast at nationals, let’s bring home the gold. Rollers rolling into nationals.

Marcus Murphy, 12, Guard

Marcus Murphy from the Gold Coast Rollers.

Soham Agrawal, 13, Forward

Soham Agrawal from the Gold Coast Rollers.

I am really looking forward to represent Gold Coast, I am also wanting to win the trophy as well as spend quality time with the team on and off the court.

Campbell Couch, 13, Forward

Campbell Couch from the GC Rollers.

I’m looking forward to hanging out with my best mates, while being able to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity in the sport that I love.

Hamilton Ding, 12, Guard

Hamilton Ding from the Gold Coast Rollers.

It was our teams goal from the beginning of the season and I am so excited we made it and it’s finally here.

Coach: Karen Couch

Assistant Coach: Scott McGregor

Manager: Linda Bright

MACKAY METEORETTES

Lily Spencer, 13, Guard

Lily Spencer from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Skye Vaughan, 13, Forward

Skye Vaughan from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Isabel Smith, 13, Guard

Isabel Smith from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Tahlia Jensen, 13, Point Guard

Tahlia Jensen from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Maggie Thorburn, 13, Guard

Maggie Thorburn from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Payton Sievers, 13, Forward

Payton Sievers from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Khijra Heward, 12, Forward

Khijra Heward from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Eden Catip, 13, Guard

Eden Catip from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Lily Mapp, 13, Centre

Lily Mapp from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Cleo Ape, 13, Guard

Cleo Ape from the Mackay Meteorettes.

Coach: Ross Jensen

Assistant Coach: Aleisha Catip

Manager: Trudy Thorburn

The Mackay Meteorettes ahead of the championships.

From coach Ross Jensen:

“It was the Mackay Meteorettes goal to become top three in Queensland at the recent State Championships to enable them to now compete against the best in the country at the upcoming Australian under-14 Club Championships,” he said.

“The girls have been training for the past seven months preparing them for this experience. “The girls are very excited to be doing this altogether as a team, they have all become very close and are very proud to be representing Mackay at a national level.

“The team will be returning the Rachel Sporn Shield, which Mackay won back in 2019 when the last Club Nationals was played prior to Covid.

“Mackay is highly regarded and well represented and we have some great talent coming from our region and I’m sure these girls will do Mackay proud.”

ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS

Joseph Munsel, Corben Huff, Lucas Mabb, Spencer Head, Samuel Driscoll, Gus Loughnan, Jacob Houston, Nash Rebetzke, Tyson Carlos, Andrew Watene

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS GIRLS

Olivia Olechnowicz, 13, Point Guard

Olivia Olechnowicz from the Spartans.

I am looking forward to playing against great players around Australia and becoming a smarter player throughout the tournament.

Mya Moke, 13, Shooting/Point Guard

Mya Moke from the Spartans

Enjoying the experience of playing at a nationals so young and creating many memories.

Isabel Bottger, 13, Power/Small Forward

Isabel Bottger from the Spartans.

I am looking forward to having a fun experience and creating great memories with my team.

Kara Kaufusi, 13, Point Guard

Kara Kaufusi from the Spartans.

Olivia Medson, 13, Forward

Olivia Medson from the Spartans.

Violet Johnson, 13, Centre

Violet Johnson from the Spartans.

Having fun with my team and having a great tournament

Lisa Holl, 13, Guard

Lisa Holl from the Spartans.

Making memories.

Jasmine Nayef, 13, Centre

Jasmine Nayef from the Spartans.

Spending time with my team and making new memories.

Mia Teunis, 13, Point Guard

Mia Teunis from the Spartans.

Creating friendships and making core memories with my team.

Lily Teunis, 13, Point Guard

Lily Teunis from the Spartans.

Bonding with the team learning new skills and having a wild experience.

Kiana Schulz, 13, Forward

Kiana Schulz from the Spartans.

Having a great experience with the team, making memories and going to the FIBA games.

Sophia Wilks, 13, Power/Small Forward

Sophia Wilks from the Spartans.

Looking forward to having a fun experience and enjoying my time here with my team.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS BOYS

Asher San Jose, Ty Kerle, Paul Cescini, Samuel McDowell-White, Izack Mayen, Antong Liang, Michael Andrew, Hudson Ward, Jayden Rogers, Harrison Lihan, Karter Iva

Coach: Jordan Kinnaird

Assistant Coach: Darryl White

Manager: Bianca McDowell

From coach Jordan Kinnaird:

“We are looking to be highly competitive at this national tournament. It’s been a long road this year and we’ve smashed all our goals so far,” he said.

“However, to compete for a national championship and be up there with the best young talent Australia has to offer is a new challenge that we are certainly ready for.

“We have a very versatile and deep team, so we are looking for big contributions from each player across the board.

“We’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time but most of all I’m excited for the boys to experience basketball at national level and to just enjoy the moment.”

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES

Townsville Flames coach Tim Duroux and the team.

Coach: Tim Duroux

Assistant: Julia Duroux

Manager: Nicole Kolb

Macey Lahrs, 13, Forward

Macey Lahrs from the Townsville Flames.

I’m looking forward to representing Townsville and playing against new teams, spending time with teammates and watching the Opals play.

Bethany Pennisi, 12, Centre

Bethany Pennisi from the Townsville Flames.

I’m proud to be representing Townsville and getting to play against top teams in Australia. Also I can’t wait to spend time with my teammates.

Clara Kolb, 13, Forward

Clara Kolb from the Townsville Flames.

I can’t wait to stay with my team and play the sport I love while representing Townsville. I’m excited to be in Sydney which is a place I don’t regularly visit. I’m also looking forward to learning more about basketball and life.

Alyssa Doyle, 13, Guard

Alyssa Doyle from the Townsville Flames.

I’m very excited to be representing Townsville at Nationals. We have worked really hard all year and I can’t wait to compete against other teams in Sydney.

Isabella Robertson, 13, Guard

Isabella Robertson from the Townsville Flames.

I was born and raised in Townsville and I have basketball in my blood. I’m very proud and excited to be able to represent my city at the Club Nationals.

Layne Prince, 12, Guard

Layne Prince from the Townsville Flames.

I am super excited to be representing Townsville Flames at Nationals in Sydney. This is the first time I have been to Sydney, I can’t wait to play against some tough teams, watch the Opals play and spend time with my teammates.

Ella Duroux, 12, Guard

Ella Duroux from the Townsville Flames.

I’m so excited to represent Townsville at Nationals because we have put in the hard work and had a great game to finish off our State Championships to get us to Nationals.

Alion See Kee, Guard

Alion See Kee from the Townsville Flames.

I’m excited to be going and representing Townsville and to show the rest of Australia the skills that Townsville Basketball girls have, and to show our family how much we’ve improved since the start of the representative season.

Addison Davey, 12, Guard

Addison Davey from the Townsville Flames.

I am excited to play at Nationals and represent Townsville because we can see our competition all across Australia and be able to improve our skills by versing harder players.

Jemma Corcoran, 12, Guard

Jemma Corcoran from the Townsville Flames.

I’m really looking forward to playing basketball on a National level, with my teammates and meeting new friends.