TWO Bendigo athletes have received scholarships for an elite Basketball Victoria development academy.
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Macey Eaton and Martin Steen will take part in the Victorian National Performance Pathway program which is designed to enhance athletes' ability to compete at the highest level on the basketball court.
"I will definitely make the most of my time in the program because it's going to give me plenty of great opportunities in the future," Steen.
Eaton shared the same determination as Steen and can't wait to get down to business in 2021.
"I want to continue to be the best that I can be by improving my dribbling and shooting so I can develop into an elite point guard," Eaton said.
Due to COVID-19 it's been several months since either of them have been able to compete.
As it stands the first tournament in 2021 for the pair with the Braves will be the annual Junior Classic during the Australia Day weekend.
The Bendigo duo were selected for the VNPP as part of the Country Victoria intake which includes players from across regional areas of the state.
The program will be overseen by Basketball Victoria's four high performance coaches Zoe Car, Jenni Screen, Nathan Cooper-Brown and Ash Arnott.
"The VNPP is an amazing program as we get to see the sheer number of Victorian rising stars take big steps from being impressive juniors to elite senior representatives ready for collegiate and professional basketball," general manager high performance and pathways Grant Wallace said.
"As seen with Jade Melbourne lighting up the WNBL in her debut season and Josh Giddey beginning his NBL career at Adelaide, the talent pathway in Victorian basketball is full of elite players.
"Every chance we get to add to these players' skill-sets and build on their impressive talents is an opportunity we're excited to take.
"While 2020 has been difficult across the board, not just within basketball itself, we're looking forward to getting our athletes back on court regularly in late 2020 and 2021 with this program and many others like it from Basketball Victoria."
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VICTORIAN NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PROGRAM 2020/2021 SCHOLARSHIPS
VICTORIA COUNTRY BOYS
Jett Garnham - Wonthaggi
Ben Waller - Traralgon
Nate Hargrave - Geelong
Zac McInnes - Geelong
Jesse Ombega - Geelong
Ned Renfree - Ballarat
Garang Dengdit - Melton
Alex Molan - Ballarat
Jack Connolly - Geelong
Martin Steen - Bendigo
Tom Field - Southern Peninsula
Tom Briggs - Wangaratta
Fletcher Burger - Ballarat
Lucas Impey - Ballarat
Lachlan Smith - Dandenong
Ben Forsyth - Southern Peninsula
Jack Hrehoresen - Maffra
Darcy Jones - Southern Peninsula
Macey Eaton - Bendigo
VICTORIA COUNTRY GIRLS
Dallas Loughridge - Traralgon / Dandenong
Dyani Ananiev - Seymour / Eltham
Isabel Whitelaw - Shepparton
Sienna Harvey - Geelong
Kyra Webb - Southern Peninsula
Tanielle Knight - Geelong
Jaime Gallatly - Traralgon
VICTORIA METROPOLITAN GIRLS
Tess Heal - Keilor
Teah Reichert - Keilor
Holly Griffiths - Bulleen
Sophie Burrows - Diamond Valley
Amy Kurkowski - Hawthorn
Amy O'Hara - Hawthorn
Hannah Wickstrom - Sandringham
Lucy Dexter - Casey
Dakota Crichton - Casey
Isla Airey - Sandringham
Bonnie Deas - Frankston
Georgia Mcbean - Hawthorn
VICTORIA METROPOLITAN BOYS
AJ Magbegor- Coburg
Beau Tranter - Dandenong
Blake Shankland - Casey
Daniel Poelsma - Bulleen
Ethan Bolton - Casey
Jackson Harding - Diamond Valley
Jensen Bradtke - Sandringham
Jesse Mcintosh - Hawthorn
Kai Garnant - Melbourne
Kristian Ferronato - Eltham
Phoenix Windsor - Hawthorn
Tristan Devers - Nunawading
Zahn Agosta - Eltham
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