Kumon Country Metro Challenge - Country Teams Announced

Basketball Victoria’s High Performance staff has selected the Country teams to attend next year’s Kumon Country-Metro Challenge.  

Picked from recent Under-18 and Under-16 tryout days as well as the Gold Nugget Camp, Country athletes in U18, U16, U15 and U14 age groups have earned selection for the four-day tournament in January 2022.

Basketball Victoria has selected 20 Country teams to attend the Kumon Country-Metro Challenge, which has temporarily replaced the Southern Cross Challenge in 2022 due to state border closures and travel concerns. Both Country and Metropolitan representatives will earn insight into development and higher-level gameplay across this elite tournament.

“It was extremely impressive to see our Country athletes return to the court for these tryouts ready to learn and up for the challenge of elite basketball,” Basketball Victoria High Performance Head Coach – Country Women Zoe Carr said. “It’s been a difficult 2021 for these players, but they have been able to pick up where they left off before the last lockdown.

“It’s been a long time coming for these players to return to High Performance basketball tournaments and they’ve shown how excited and passionate they are about representing Country at the Challenge.

“The Kumon Country-Metro Challenge, brought in to fill the void of Southern Cross Challenge and East Coast Challenge, will give our selected players a chance to push their case for state team selections later in 2022 as well.”

The 2022 Kumon Country-Metro Challenge will be held at the State Basketball Centre, 291 George St, Wantirna South from 14-17 January 2022.

Congratulations to the following Ballarat players who have been selected: 

• Jemma Amoore ( U/18 Girls Team A )
• Milly Sharp ( U/18 Girls Team A )
• Emily Lewis ( U/18 Girls Team A )

• Emmie Morin ( U/16 Girls Team A )
• Lily Woodland-Boyanton ( U/16 Girls Team A )

• Nethmi Rodrigo ( U/15 Girls Team A )
• Lilly Impey ( U/15 Girls Team A )
• Zayah McNamara ( U/15 Girls Team A )

• Eliza Ashby ( U/14 Girls Team A )

• Alex Molan ( U/18 Boys Team A )
• Ned Renfree ( U/18 Boys Team A )
• Riley Dunn ( U/18 Boys Team A )
• Lucas Impey ( U/18 Boys Team A )

• Floyd Brooks ( U/15 Boys Team A )
• Jack Hexter ( U/15 Boys Team A )
• Luka White ( U/15 Boys Team A )
• Jackson O'Brien ( U/15 Boys Team A Emergency )

• Lucas Byrne ( U/14 Boys Team A )
• Samuel Keating ( U/14 Boys Team A )