2023 Under 18 State and Kevin Coombs Cup Teams Announced

Basketball Victoria has selected the 2023 Under-18 State teams representing Victoria Country and Victoria Metropolitan as well as the Victorian Kevin Coombs Cup team for wheelchair athletes.

These five teams will head to Brendale (Brisbane), Queensland on April 9-16 for the National Championships co-hosted by Basketball Australia and the Northside Wizards Basketball Association.

In 2022 our Victoria Metropolitan U18 Women won Gold in a pulsating contest against Queensland South, while the Victoria Country U18 Women finished 5th after a competitive tournament in Ballarat.

Our Victoria Metropolitan U18 Men’s team had a reversal of fortune, narrowly losing the Grand Final to Queensland South to gain Silver. Whilst our Victoria Country U18 Men finished 6th after a tight finish vs NSW Metro.

The Victorian Kevin Coombs Cup wheelchair basketball team will also be aiming high to get back in the Gold Medal game after coming away with the Bronze medal in 2022.

With 2022 being the first full year since 2019 of un-interrupted preparation including the State Development Program, the VJBL and Junior Country Championships, Basketball Victoria’s General Manager of High Performance – Grant Wallace, said the regular calendar of play and preparation plus recent stellar performances at the East Coast Challenge and Country Cup has determined a high calibre group of athletes to be selected from.

“After an extensive process and a jam-packed start to the high-performance program in 2023 – it’s a good problem to have so many athletes pushing each other and being supportive during the recent tournaments. You could see the sense of urgency and passion from the players, and it was an extremely difficult task to finalise the teams.”

“Our biggest strength is our culture, and we have seen the success of our High-Performance Hubs as part of our State Development Program that has helped drive the standards and competitiveness to a new level. Our whole group is looking forward to the trip to Queensland in April.” Wallace said.

“Our versatility will be one of our strengths as well as being fiercely competitive. We will share the ball and make teams defend us at every position. Ultimately, we’d love to come back with some gold medals, we aim to compete at the highest level across all of our teams and support everyone who takes part in the tournament.”

2023 TEAM LISTS

KEVIN COOMBS CUP (VICTORIAN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL)

Laura Davoli
Jaylen Brown
Chithic Machar
Mitchell Bond
Jack Thomas
Brady Cochrane
Will Firth
David Holligan
Sebastian Welsh
Isabel Martin

EMERGENCIES

Rhys Higgins
Ethan Anderson
Judd Hughes

KEVIN COOMBS CUP – STAFF

Head Coach: Jason Bryant – Altona/ Basketball Victoria
Assistant Coach: Lauren Robinson – Knox 
Assistant Coach: Samantha Muraca – Basketball Victoria   
Team Manager: Kim Hampton – Basketball Victoria

UNDER-18 COUNTRY WOMEN

Lavinia Cox - Bendigo 
Tayli Dimarco - Sale 
Sienna Harvey - Wodonga / CoE 
Aleks Connolly - Wyndham 
Sophie Taylor - Warragul / Dandenong
Emily Scholtes - Traralgon 
Kyra Webb - Casey 
Jelena Savic - Keilor 
Ameir Majur - Melton 
Asha Nightingale - Casey

EMERGENCIES

Grace Larkins - Gippsland United 
Indiana de Dios - Traralgon 
Kaitlyn Field - Casey 
Krystal Arneson - Korumburra 
Emily Lewis - Ballarat 
Kailey Neave - Dandenong

 
UNDER-18 COUNTRY WOMEN – STAFF

Head Coach: Haydn Kirkwood – Wodonga 
Assistant Coach: Joe Turner – Casey 
Assistant Coach: Carly Stones – Eltham / Bendigo 
Development Coach: Chloe Hogg – Korumburra 
Team Manager: Wendy Campbell – Traralgon

UNDER-18 METROPOLITAN MEN – TEAM LIST

Harrison Beauchamp - Melbourne
Keyaan Bongso - Melbourne
Truman Byrne - Casey
Ryder Cheesman - Knox
James Coleman - Camberwell
Luke Fennell - Knox/NBA Academy
Oscar Humble - Sandringham
Jesse McIntosh - Diamond Valley
Henry Sewell - Dandenong
Jack Whitbourn - Melbourne

EMERGENCIES

Xavier Ah Tong - Dandenong
Edward Brammall - Melbourne
Austin Foxwell - Bulleen
Cedric Rault - Casey
Tyrone Uwandu - Diamond Valley
Teague Wiggins - Melbourne
Phoenix Windsor - Casey

 
UNDER-18 METROPOLITAN MEN – STAFF

Head Coach: Matt Shanahan – Diamond Valley
Assistant Coach: Andrew Lim – Sandringham 
Assistant Coach: Andrew Sherwell – Mornington 
Development Coach: Dylan Theis – Basketball Victoria
Team Manager: Mark Sainsbery – Basketball Victoria

UNDER-18 COUNTRY MEN – TEAM LIST

Dash Daniels - Bendigo 
Ned Renfree - Ballarat 
Joel Robinson - Phillip Island 
Ben Waller - Casey 
Cooper Duff-Tytler - Keilor 
Wil Rantall - Warrnambool 
Sa Pilimai - Keilor 
Lachlan Kanngiesser - Mornington 
Brody Hull - Kilsyth 
Mading Kuany - Collingwood

EMERGENCIES

Logan Robey - Wallan 
Brady Hall - Colac 
Lachlan Harvey - Wodonga 
Frank Oguche - Wodonga 
Kye Kelly - Geelong 
Jesse Brock - Seymour 
Cooper Newton - Wangaratta  
Jake Meagher - Pakenham

UNDER-18 COUNTRY MEN – STAFF

Head Coach: Brenton O’Brien – Nunawading 
Assistant Coach: Dylan Cole – Keilor 
Assistant Coach: Scott Ramsey – Southern Peninsula 
Development Coach: Brad Dennis – Keilor 
Team Manager: Ben White – Southern Peninsula

UNDER-18 METROPOLITAN WOMEN – TEAM LIST

Bonnie Autupuna Melbourne
Edie Clarke Melbourne
Hannah Day Kilsyth
Bonnie Deas Frankston/CoE
Amelia Hobson Sandringham
Georgia McBean Kilsyth
Sarah Portlock Broadmeadows/CoE
Madeline Potts Nunawading
Manuela Puoch Dandenong
Isabella Stewart Melbourne

EMERGENCIES

Josie Agnew Melbourne
Isla Airey Sandringham
Kiera Lindemans Bulleen
Alice Magnanini Melbourne
Erinn McAlary Keilor
Isobelle Wightman Melbourne

UNDER-18 METROPOLITAN WOMEN – STAFF

Head Coach: Mike Brookens – Bulleen 
Assistant Coach: Megan Jarvis – Keilor 
Assistant Coach: Adrian Sheehy – Bulleen 
Development Coach: Santo Fileccia – Keilor 
Team Manager: Katrina Barry – Dandenong

About the Under 18 National Championships

The Under 18 National Championships provides athletes and coaches with an invaluable understanding of what it takes to represent their state or territory at an elite competition, as well as great experience for officials to continue to develop through the pathway.

Each year at the Under 18 Championships the best men and women in each state and territory compete for the Merv Emms Australian U18 Men’s Championship and the Maree Jackson Australian U18 Women’s Championship.

This event has been the stepping stone to international success for a number of Victoria’s and Australia’s finest basketball players and have provided invaluable experience for the players to draw on as they further their careers.

Maree Jackson

The women’s trophy for the Under 18 Junior National Championships is named in honour of Maree Jackson. Maree broke new ground for Australian women’s basketball as the first female athlete to attend a US college on a scholarship when she played at Louisiana State and was a member of the 1975 and 1979 Opals teams that competed at the World Championships.

Jackson, one of the most outstanding female athletes to come from Australia, in 2006, was an inductee into Basketball Australia’s Hall of Fame.

Maree is also the mother of the Opals superstar Lauren Jackson.

Merv Emms

The Under 18 Men’s National Championship trophy is named after the late Merv Emms. Merv helped pave the way for basketball in Australia. Being a coach, official, working in administration and being a life-long volunteer of the sport earned him the title as a true pioneer for Australian basketball.

The greatest contribution Merv made to basketball was through his coaching, despite being a technical official at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Game. During his time coaching, he amassed seven national titles coaching the junior teams and had been responsible for developing the NSW Coaches Association.

In November 2000 before Emms passed away, he was honoured with the presentation of a life membership of Basketball NSW and a 2000 Government Sports Medal for his contribution to basketball. He was also named as a Member of Honour of Oceania Basketball.

The Kevin Coombs Cup

Kevin Coombs Cup is the Australian National Championship for wheelchair basketball.

The inaugural Kevin Coombs Cup was held in Ballarat in 2008 in conjunction with the Australian U18 Championships.

Following the success of the inaugural championship the Kevin Coombs Cup was conducted bi-annually with state based teams. Due to the continuing growth of Wheelchair Basketball the Kevin Coombs Cup has been run annually since 2015 in Ballarat.

These championships present the only opportunity for junior wheelchair basketballers to represent their state in a National Championship. The age groups for the Kevin Coombs Cup are based on international junior wheelchair basketball age groups; Under-23 for Males and Under-25 for Females.

Kevin Coombs

Kevin Coombs has been synonymous with wheelchair basketball in Australia for over 40 years, representing the nation at five Paralympic Games, including two as captain of the Rollers.

The Victorian’s remarkable ball skills and pinpoint passing commanded respect from his peers but it was his devastating shooting ability that struck fear into his opponents. That was never more evident than when he led Australia to a Silver Medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and two Gold Medals at the 1977 and 1982 FESPIC games.

Off the court, Kevin has been an ambassador for the National Indigenous Strategy for Literacy and Numeracy as well as the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000 and is one of only nine people to have an avenue in Sydney Olympic Park in his name.

In 2007, Kevin Coombs was inducted as a player into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame.

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