Teenagers from Inverness basketball club Highland Bears are called up to Scotland squad to face England and Wales in Dundee
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FIVE teenagers from Inverness basketball club Highland Bears have been called up to the Scotland under-14 squad.
Charlotte Alexander, Grace Alexander, Madison Croall, Emily Hill and Baileigh Matte will represent their country at the Under-14 Tri-Nations Tournament in Dundee next month.
The quintet will be part of the Scotland squad which will take on England and Wales between Friday, May 13 and Sunday, May 15 after impressing selectors.
Coach Jeni Alexander says it is a huge accolade for the club to have so many of their players representing their country.
She says it shows the strength in depth of girls basketball at Highland Bears.
“This is an exciting time for the club,” said Alexander.
“We had seven under-14 players who went to the regional training sessions and five of them have been selected for the Tri-Nations.
“The girls have been totally committed and been training really hard on their physical preparation, technical and tactical understanding and shown a lot of resilience.
“We are super proud of them and it is a really exciting time for the club.
“I don’t think we have had so many players from the club selected to play for Scotland at the same tournament.
“We have had players represent Scotland before, but to have five players from Highland Bears in the same squad is incredible.”
Alexander says the achievement of the girls is even more remarkable given they have only recently returned to normality due to the impact of the pandemic.
“The committee managed to keep things going during lockdown where we got help from Bellfield Park and we managed to train outside where we used our own nets for practice.
“It enabled us to keep the club going as well as the girls going.
“We tried to change our coaching style and the girls have managed to show their resilience over the last couple of years.
“Basketball Scotland have also developed under-14 level to give players a greater opportunity at national level and improved the regional academy programme with under-14 leagues.
“The girls have been challenged and they are going in the right direction.
“We now want to develop that in other age groups as well.”
