WA Four Selected for Emerging Rollers Squad

Four members of the WAIS Wheelchair Basketball squad have earned selection for the Australian Emerging Rollers team set to compete in Dubai.

The FASA International Tournament held in the capital of the UAE provides international experience for the next group of athletes looking to represent the Aussie Rollers at the Asia Oceania Championships, which will also serve as qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

WAIS talent; Tom McHugh, Jake Kavanagh, Andrew Dewberry and Frank Pinder all received call-ups and will take strong confidence heading in after a successful campaign for WA recently, in winning the Kevin Coombs Cup in Townsville.

The Rollers are coming off a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany and are looking to build depth of talent leading into Tokyo, by providing an opportunity for this emerging group of athletes to make their mark on Head Coach Craig Friday.

“It is a great opportunity for some new squad members to be exposed at the international level, as well as a couple that have been around the fringe looking for a chance to impress and put some healthy pressure on those that have been in the team of late” explained Craig Friday.

“I am excited to see if we can continue to add depth and competition inside our Rollers squad.”

“We have some different classifications in the group this week to what we have carried for the past two years and into the WC in 2018” explained Friday.

“It will be interesting to see if we can find another combination that we can add to our current line-ups.”

The FASA International Tournament runs from April 24-30.

All players are currently in final preparations for their club teams NWBL seasons, kicking off with a Cluster Round on 10th May at Logan City Stadium in Brisbane so this tour will be an important preparation opportunity for this young group, to lead them into a successful national competition.

– Basketball Australia