By Aaron Cordy
OVER 100 young basketball stars got to meet Australia’s greatest-ever basketball player Lauren Jackson AO, and former Australian Opals Captain Tess Madgen for a girls-only clinic at the Shepparton Basketball Stadium on Monday, April 7.
“We found that with the camps in particular, at this age, the girls are far more likely to participate and get involved if they know it’s for girls,” said Lauren Jackson AO.
“That’s why it’s so special, especially at this age, to give them the opportunity to have someone like Tess [Madgen] and myself here to talk to them, coach with them, and just be visible. You know, I guess, we’ve had our fun. We’ve had an amazing time on court, now it’s time for us to give back. This is the fun part. This is the part where we get to inspire the next generation.”
The girl-only clinic was organised by the Marist NDC Basketball Club and She Hoops had a morning session for girls aged 7- 10 and an afternoon session for 11- 16. With all female coaches alongside the two Australian basketball superstars.
Marist female development officer Tyson Saunders couldn’t believe his luck when he contacted Sami Gaal, Program and Administration Manager of Women in Basketball, and she said they could get Lauren Jackson to visit Shepparton for the clinic.
“It was like wow, what an opportunity,” said Tyson.
“So, it went from, let’s continue that development of those programs from the [Marist] club’s perspective to, holy s**t we’ve got the biggest name in Australian basketball, coming to Shepparton. So then, obviously we need to make this a little bit bigger.”
The continued growth of young girls in sports at grassroots levels is creating better pathways and better skill development. With the talents already displayed by the girls at the clinic, it is not hard to believe that they too might one day represent Australia on the world stage like Lauren Jackson AO, and Tess Madgen.
