The 2023 Representative season begins tomorrow as we touch down in Rangiora for their second time hosting the Aon U19 Nationals. MainPower Stadium will be the go-to place for four days of basketball action, as well as the place to watch stars in the making take the court.
The Aon U19 Nationals brings together some of New Zealand’s top basketball talent over four exciting days, with players representing their region and contending for the men’s and women’s championship titles.
Hunter Adam, who plays for Canterbury, and was last year’s Men’s MVP, said that he really enjoys playing in the South Island, especially in his home region.
“There’s nothing like playing with in front of a home crowd, especially in Canterbury. The whole basketball community down here loves to get behind each and every team and support them as much as they can. After some time abroad, I’m looking forward to coming home and experiencing that community once again,” said Adam.
When asked what advice he would give to players participating this year, Adam mentioned some key points that he has utilised in the past to keep him in the right headspace.
“To have success at any tournament you need to be disciplined, able to forget your mistakes, and ultimately do whatever you can to contribute to your team.”
Another player who will be looking to improve on their 5th place result in 2022 is Lilly Parke, Auburn University at Montgomery Freshman and U19 2022 Women’s Tournament Team selected. She mentioned how much of the same Auckland Women’s team would be back this season, but things have become more of a challenge through playing overseas.
” Last year was definitely not the outcome we wanted, especially with having a small roster and suffering injuries and sickness throughout the tournament. Having almost all the same girls back this year is exciting, and having experienced that adversity last year has definitely made us more prepared for whatever is thrown at us this year,” said Parke.
“Under 19’s is a hard tournament to prepare for, as so many of us have left school now and have taken on other commitments, making it harder to train all together as much as we used to. However, this has made us value the time we do get together a lot more, and motivates us to make the most of our trainings.”
Keeping up to date with the fixtures and results is simple and can be found at http://bbnz.link/u19nats.
The tournament will have selected games on Day 3 and Day 4 streaming LIVE at https://nz.basketball/tv. The schedule for live streamed games will be shown on our social media channels, and is the easiest way to get all the information as the tournament happens. A link will also be available on the home page of Basketball New Zealand.
Key details:
- The Aon Under 19 Nationals will be held at MainPower Stadium, Rangiora from 2nd June – 5th June.
- You can view the scores and results, as well as any other relevant tournament information at http://bbnz.link/u19nats
- You can watch selected games (for days 3 and 4 only) online via nz.basketball/tv
- Follow live scores and standings for this tournament by downloading the GameDay App.
