New South Wales has had a stellar start to the year with some great results at the recent 2023 Foot Locker Under-20 and Ivor Burge National Championships in Geelong.
The U20 Women returned to the top of the podium for the second time in three years, reversing their round-game loss against Victoria to beat them in the final, 71-61.
Head Coach, Tom Garlepp couldn’t have been prouder of his team, having only dropped one game all Tournament to Vic in the earlier rounds, and then bouncing back to beat them in the Gold medal contest.
“I really feel very grateful to have been able to coach this group.” Garlepp said.
“The girls were very talented, and possessed the individual skills to win the championship, but more importantly they were a group with a genuine care for each other and they had a desire to win that was unmatched across the tournament, and they now get to call each other national champions.”
In the men’s final, NSW claimed the silver medal going down to the Western Australia team 108-71. Unfortunately, the boys met a red-hot team from the West who were relentless at the offensive end. However, credit to the team, as they competed to the end to get a well-earned second placing.
Head Coach, Brook Pearce, was full of praise for his team and their efforts during the week.
“The Nationals was full of so many great players and coaches, and to be able to go out and represent the state of NSW and come back with the silver medal is surreal. We had a demanding schedule with five games in the first three days, and the staff were able to keep the team engaged mentally for each hurdle thrown our way. We took each game as it came, focused on executing our roles and scouts and managed to find success. It was an honour and pleasure to be around a group of young men who came together, put aside egos and played for each other.”
In the Ivor Burge Men’s Tournament, NSW competed hard in the bronze medal game, however came up short losing to Tasmania 89-63.
Head Coach, Paul O’Neill was proud of his teams’ efforts to play for one another and enjoy playing for NSW.
“The boys enjoyed a great tournament, representing NSW with sportsmanship and fantastic effort,” O’Neill said.
“They were close to clinching a bronze medal with their dedication to team play. Coach Mick and I were proud of their effort.”
The Ivor Burge women competed in the 3×3 format for the first time and it was their traditional rivals Victoria who they met in the final. In front of their raucous home crowd, the Vics proved too strong winning 15-4 and relegating the girls to the silver medal.
Head Coach, Cheryl Wills commended her team for their tenacity to keep playing for one another after a few intense matches during the tournament.
“The players were warriors who competed strongly and battled hard throughout the competition sticking to the game plan when it mattered and exemplifying great sportsmanship throughout,” said Wills.
Following the conclusion of the Tournament, NSW players also featured in the major award winners with Isla Juffermans being named the Bob Staunton Medallist for the Women’s competition and Mackenzie Wills and Noah Pagotto being named the Defensive players of the tournament for the Ivor Burge Women’s and U20 men’s competitions respectively.
NSW also had a large contingent of officials that featured during the last day of the competition with the following games awarded:
