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Gold Coast Rollers and North Gold Coast Seahawks ready for under-14 basketball season

The under-14 junior basketball season is here and we have shone a light on the stars to watch from the boys and girls Gold Coast Rollers and North Gold Coast Seahawks sides. See the stars of the future here.

North Gold Coast Seahawks under-14 girls side. Picture: Supplied
North Gold Coast Seahawks under-14 girls side. Picture: Supplied

The future generation of basketball stars have kicked off their under-14 South Queensland basketball campaign for 2025 with four strong Gold Coast based teams in Division 1 set to star.

We have shone a light on the stars of the boys and girls Division 1 Rollers and Seahawks sides.

North Gold Coast Seahawks girls

North Gold Coast coach Vicki Sams said her side is inexperienced but there is a lot of promise within the squad.

“We’re a very new side, it has been a big job getting them to where they are now,” she said.

Sams said a major focus this year would be improving their aggression and defensive efforts but said the team’s biggest strength is their game IQ and hopes it can be enough to guide the team to glory.

“They’re quite intelligent young players, they’re very hard working and they want to be better,” she said.

“I would love to make top four and I would love to make top three to go to nationals.”

Sams revealed the players she expects strong performances from and who excites her the most.

Vanessa (Turley) is a tall player, she’s five foot nine, she’s athletic, she’s in all the Queensland programs at the moment and advancing every time she goes,” she said.

“I think she is one of my best players.

Ollivia Lightfoot, she hasn’t played for a while but her improvement is very quick at this time.

“She plays with an injury but there’s nothing you can do about her.

“She plays hard, she doesn’t give up, she tries really hard and she’s learning quite quickly. “She’s coming from behind, she never played any representative basketball last year, so she’s come into us as a player and she’s working very hard and she’s impressed me very much.”

North Gold Coast Seahawks boys

BJ Lindemann took on the role as boys’ coach on short notice but has already been impressed by the skill and speed his side offers.

“It is a young group and we’re probably the smallest team,” he said.

“It is a big development year but also going out there trying to win every single game is the mantra for these guys.

“The kids get more and more skilled each year, they play really fast and their smart for this age.”

Lindemann has challenged his side to give their all on half-court defence, with the area of the game crucial due to their lack of height.

“Just making sure there’s no easy baskets because we’re going to play against big kids who can rack up points very quickly,” he said.

“So half court defence as the base of everything and that’s to help them at the rest of their career.

“At the other end of the court with the ball, just learning the basic actions ... the basics of how to put together plays and how to play as a team.”

He is excited to see several young players make their marks with a variety of exciting talents across the floor set to hold the key this season.

“We got a couple of really good fast guys and we got a couple of really good big guys,” Lindemann said.

“The fast guys that handle the ball, Oliver Peterson is one of our fast little guards and Diante Hopkins.

“They’re the ones who can score, they can push the ball down the court, get us into our offence and their probably our number one defensive guys.

Cooper Crump he played division 1 basketball since he was nine he’s a machine.

“A couple of big projects, Brayden Brummer and Josh Schmidt.

“Those two guys are huge, big and fast, these guys are athletes and they run up and down, they never stop so that’s what I like about them, they compete and they want to learn and get better.”

Saiyuri Anderson of the Gold Coast Rollers.
Saiyuri Anderson of the Gold Coast Rollers.

Gold Coast Rollers girls

Rollers girls coach Craig Taylor is excited to see the improvement from the group, with several underrated players on the roster.

“The idea is to see individual development and improvement in the girls and them enjoying their game and getting out there and having fun and loving it all and being part of a team,” he said.

“The better they can do individually, the better the team can do.”

Taylor said he expected a number of breakout seasons from his players, with some impressive development shown already.

“I have been quite surprised with a few of the girls,” he said.

“I have been quite surprised with their effort and the effect they’re having on the game.

“We always talk about having great effort but also being able to impact the game.

“We’ve got at least another six or seven of those girls that are coming through.”

Taylor also had high hopes for Saiyuri Anderson and expects her to play a pivotal role for the team in 2025.

“She is coming along well, she was actually in our number one team last year in under-14s as a bottom-age player.

“There’s a couple of other girls we would be hopeful of coming forward but Saya’s the main prospect at the moment.”

The Rollers will have to contend with some of the state’s best young basketballers so it comes as no surprise Taylor has put a heavy focus on defence.

“Our mantra is relentless persistence in defence so that’s what it’s gotta be all about,” he said.

“That will help fuel our getting up and down the court and scoring against those stronger more experienced teams.

“We can’t always match it one-on-one but I think if we can play great defence and put pressure on the opposition, I think that can be our trump card.”

Gold Coast Rollers boys

There is an air of excitement surrounding the boys side, with an athletic group of players set to take the competition by storm.

Coach Geoff MacLeod was aware the challenge his side would face as they prepare to compete in a cutthroat competition with several elite teams all vying for success.

“I think we’ll be around the mark, there’s some very talented boys across Queensland in the age group so we’ll certainly be up there somewhere at the top,” he said.

“I have coached kids for a long time and our goal is for them to better at the end of the season than they were at the start and be better players at the end.

“In sport you can win all the time, lose all the time, as long as we’re giving 100 per cent every game and the kids are getting better, we’re happy.”

The Rollers boys’ side boasts incredible depth with a wide range of players set to star.

“You really want to watch a boy named Jermaine O’Riley, Isaiah Carter,Noah Ghabiliha and Asha Kowalczuk,” MacLeod said.

“They’re all very fast so we will play a very upbeat style so we have elite speed so if those boys can control their bodies at 12 and 13 years old I think they’re in for bright futures.”

MacLeod was also excited to see the growth of last year’s under-12 players who have made the step up as bottom-age players this year.

“I took the under 12s last season and we won the state championship,” he said.

“There’s three boys from last year’s under-12s who are in this first team, there’s the Nasio twins(Dzel-Dion and Zion-Peli) and a boy named Hudson Flower, just watching them develop will be very exciting.

“We were state champions last year and they will be building on that and looking forward to under-14s.”

Original URL: https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/gold-coast-rollers-ready-for-under14-south-queensland-junior-basketball-season/news-story/b777070f41d4ef0e314d71685b3bdcb6