Angus Glover, Patrick Lancaster, Bailey O'Brien and Kyle Zunic have been included in the under-18 men's NSW Country team for the Australian championships in Ballarat this month. The players helped the NSW under-16 team win gold in 2013 and 2014.

Lauren Calver and Claudia Flynn (reserve) were named in theNSW women's under-18 squad.

Meanwhile, three Illawarra juniors were among the 700 players at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury at the start of 2015. Riley O'Brien, Mackenzie Rodam and Ella Dent were selected for the NZ Easter Cup tournament in Tauranga, New Zealand, this month.

O'Brien was selected in the under-16 men's Australian country team, and Rodam and Dent in the under-14 women's country team.

In January, Lachlan Dent, Kyle Zunic and Angus Glover were among an elite group invited to a five-day camp at the Australian Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Former Perth NBL championship-winning coach Rob Beveridge - who has also worked with the Boomers and the Australian Institute of Sport basketball program - held a workshop for Illawarra junior coaches at the Snakepit. The workshop also featured some leading junior players.

Finally, Illawarra's under-14, under-16 and under-18 representative teams have begun their new season in the Country Premier Division 1 competition.