Four of Maitland’s finest – Rachel Williams, Dan Millburn, Maddison Nowland and Shakera Reilly – head to Albury in the state’s south to represent NSW Country in the under-18 and under-16 divisions at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Classic.

Year 10 All Saints College student Williams, who represented NSW Country at the national championships in Adelaide in July, will play up an age after being selected in the under-18 team.

Six equally talented basketballers –Benjamin Relf, Molly Bruhn, Bianca Green, Tahleah Neal, Jai Davidson and Ryan Davidson – head north to the Port Macquarie’s Pacific Coast Slam for under 17s and under 15s.

Competition will begin in Albury on January 12 and Port Macquarie on January 13, with both running until January 18.

All were selected having played in this year’s Country Premier League for Maitland Mustangs and at state championships tournaments, held in September.

Maitland Basketball Association general manager Amy McGregor said the number of Maitland basketballers representing NSW Country was “higher than usual”.

The group had been training separately in readiness for the tournament, and McGregor said that their dedication had played a part in their success.

“All of the kids have made sacrifices,” she said.

“They do extra training on top of their normal training, and this extra work that they’ve done has helped get them over the line.”

For the 10 basketballers next month’s representative tournaments could represent a step to progressing to higher honours, McGregor said.

“There quite a few of the younger kids that are going up north who have a huge amount of potential,” she said.“This is a great start to their representative careers.”