By JARROD POTTER
KEYSBOROUGH Cougars women’s basketball team is well into their first pre-season in preparation for their inaugural season in the Big V competition.
Players from different basketball backgrounds – Victorian Youth Championship, SEABL development and Big V – will feature in the team that will debut in next season’s Big V Division 2 Women’s competition.
Coach Mark Hewish said the signs were good so far for the team, competing well on Wednesday nights playing in the Melbourne Metropolitan Basketball League (MMBL) against higher ranked opposition.”We’ve been playing MMBL on Wednesday nights and they’ve been doing really well against championship teams,” Hewish said.
“Ringwood beat us by 15 and they came second last year in championship and we played Werribee last week, which finished first last year before being beaten by Casey in the finals, and we should’ve beaten them.
“I think we’re 6-2, so we put them in that league so we can show that we can play in that league and show what we’re doing and we’ve had the whole team rotating through there.”
Hewish wants to finish up the squad for the upcoming season as early as possible and is looking for a balance between experience and youth for the inaugural season.
“We’ve picked those eight last week and putting two more in next week and hopefully have our core group, except for maybe one spot before Christmas,” Hewish said.
“That’s what we’re trying to get – a bit of a mix, just to have that poise and stuff that we need and take control of our youngsters.
“If it all fits together we think we have a fair chance of getting in the top four.”
Spots are still available in the squad if anyone is interested in fitting into the Keysborough culture – with a heavy emphasis on helping the next generation and creating community as well as playing hoops every week in Big V.
“If they’ve got something to offer and they’re looking for a game, come on down and give us a bit of a look,” Hewish said.
“One of the things I would say is it’s not about walking in and walking out – we want them to fit in as we’re a small niche family club and we want them helping out developing our kids as well as playing.”
For more information about Keysborough’s Big V women’s team, contact coach Mark Hewish on mlhehwish@bigpond.com
