By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Two teams of supremely talented Red Roo Sports basketballers were unbeaten as they claimed regional championship trophies in Warragul.
The Dandenong-based under-16 and under-19 teams were both undefeated in the Warragul Warriors Basketball Association annual junior tournament on 8-10 February.
David Amum was crowned the under-16s most valuable player award, and Burbeej Wang won the under-19s MVP.
Team coach James Kerr, who has bankrolled the club since 2015, said it was reward for hard work.
“Their girlfriend is their basketball,” he said.
“Winning is no accident, these young are committed to achieving excellence with discipline.”
Their objective was purely to play basketball and win, Mr Kerr said.
“Relentless defence and offensive dominance were the only words to describe the Red Roo’s performance over the weekend.”
Red Roo Sports’ 50 players are based at HOOPS 24/7 training centre in Dandenong South. Apart from Mr Kerr, it operates with “nothing from governments or sponsors”.
Mr Kerr said it was hoped to upgrade HOOPS 24/7 to become a “first-class facility” with scoreboards, shot clocks and further air-conditioning.
“We’ll keep marching on. These kids are worth a bit of effort.”
Red Roo’s open mens team has been invited to a tournament in Bendigo to ply their skills against Big V sides such as Bendigo, Ringwood and Coburg.
The invitation came soon after the controversial cancellation of the South Sudanese Australian Basketball Association’s Summer Slam tournament series.
Summer Slam organisers had been unable to stage the 2018 event due to what Basketball Victoria described as “the severity of external restrictions placed on this event”.
The restrictions were widely derided as racially-based.
“(Bendigo) thought it was wrong and so invited us to play with them,” Mr Kerr said.
“It’s a great opportunity. My way to promote our players is to enter in as many tournaments as possible.”
