HD GIRLS-IN FOR THE WIN!
The month of November has been one for the books, with many of our Hoop Dreams athletes smashing personal goals and achieving big things on and off the court.
On the first weekend of November, Hoop Dreams saw its first ever Touring Team take the court at the Annual Seaside Classic Tournament in Port Macquarie. A weekend full of fast and exhilarating games as well as meeting and competing alongside some of New South Wales most passionate basketball teams.
With perfect weather showing off the beaches that surround the beautiful town of Port Macquarie, our Hoop Dreams athletes and their families got the opportunity to explore and relax between games dipping into the water every chance they could to implement some recovery from their massive efforts.
Led by Coach Wil Bowden, we saw Hoop Dreams represented by a team of six tenacious female athletes in an U17 Girls team that wowed and amazed the competition with their amazing skills and sportsmanship. Playing teams such as Springwood, Taree, Coffs Harbour and Newcastle West our girls got a fantastic opportunity to compete and bond over the sport they love.
“Teamwork, Commitment, Hard Work and a Love of Basketball is what every single girl on this team brought to the court to win the Gold.”
COACH WIL
Champions: The HD Touring Team (Kijana McCowan, Hayley De Friskbom, Charlotte Cooper, Rose Bond, Isabelle Burns, Lilly Bower) were lead to victory by Coach Will Bowden at the Annual Seaside Classic Tournament in Port Macquarie.
A very successful round of games on Saturday set the girls in high spirits and ready to compete in the finals on Sunday.
Following a planned team breakfast by the water at a local cafe, our girls were fuelled and ready for action. The semi final which saw some fellow Newcastle Athletes on the opposition team was hotly contested with our girls down 11-14 at the end of the first quarter!! A motivational chat and a new plan of attack from Coach Wil sent our girls into the second quarter on a mission and they were amazing! Able to overcome the fierce start by the West team to win the Semi final 76-40.
Sunday afternoon saw the stadium set up for an exciting Grand Final against a star studded Coffs Harbour team boasting previous NSW Representatives and an Australian Centre of Excellence Scholarship Athlete. Our girls were in high spirits and came out firing on all cylinders! An amazing overall team effort working as one on both offence and defence assured our girls an amazing victory 60-37.
Doing us proud the girls won Hoop Dreams first ever Gold Medal at our first ever Tournament. Congratulations to the girls Kijana McCowan, Hayley De Friskbom, Charlotte Cooper, Rose Bond, Isabelle Burns and Lilly Bower you did amazing representing the Hoop Dreams family!
Hoop Dreams are very proud and excited by the smashing success of this Touring Team and can’t wait to see them and more Hoop Dreams Teams representing us at future competitions across the globe.
HD GIRLS-IN FOR THE WIN!
WRITTEN BY COACH WIL BOWDEN
