The New Zealand Under 16 boys basketball team and the New Zealand Select Under 16 boys team have been named. These teams will travel to Australia in June and July to take on some of Australia's top junior teams. New Zealand Under 16 Boys Head Coach, Zico Coronel, says the team was selected following a comprehensive trial process beginning in December comprising of four national camps. "As a coaching staff Morgan [Maskell], Danny [Page], and Manager Manu Hoque and I believe that the prolonged timeframe has allowed the boys to make major improvements. The team looks quite different now than if we’d had selected it earlier owing to the outstanding work done by many athletes with their local coaches leading to huge improvements. It was a difficult selection with so many boys performing at a high level, however after much discussion as a coaching staff and film study, we are very pleased with our squads and the quality of the reserves should they be required. "We are fortunate to have skilled and intelligent players who, more importantly, are young men of very high character. This is a testament to the young men themselves, their parents, their wider whanau and their coaches in their local areas, at representative, school and at an individual level." The teams will be preparing for two different pinnacle events in 2017. The New Zealand Under 16 Boys team will prepare for the Australia Junior Champs on 4 to 16 July in Sterling, Australia. The New Zealand Select Under 16 boys team will prepare for the Medibank Classic, held in Melbourne 8 – 13 June. Coach Coronel says prior to the pinnacle events, they will be looking to develop certainty and confidence in the teams' skill sets, understandings of the game and systems. "The two teams have quickly become a very close group, so we will continue to operate as one large whanau celebrating each other’s success as much as possible. The May camp will be a joint camp but, as the two pinnacle events are quite far apart in terms of the dates, the final preparation camps will be separate. "In terms of the competition we are primarily concerned with our own culture and our own play. We are working to become great basketball players and great basketball teams in our own right. If we can achieve this, I’ll be pleased and we will see how the results turn out at the two strong tournaments that are the Under 16 State Champs and the Medibank Classic," says Coach Coronel. New Zealand Under 16 Boys Team:
New Zealand Select Under 16 Boys Team:
Reserves (for both teams):
Staff:
Schedule: U16 Camp | 18 - 21 January | Auckland U16 Camp | 23 – 26 February | Auckland U16 Camp | 26 - 29 April | Auckland U16 Camp | 19 - 21 May | Auckland NZ Under 16 ‘A’ Camp | 6 – 7 June | Auckland NZ Select Tour | Medibank Classic | 8 - 13 June | Melbourne NZ Under 16 Camp | 22 – 25 June | Auckland Under 16 Australia Junior Champs | 6 – 16 July | Perth |
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October 2023
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OrganisationCollege Sport Media is dedicated to telling the story of successful young sportspeople in New Zealand
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