When the Illawarra Hawks under 14 boys team first came together last October, they set themselves a major goal for the year.
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To qualify for the Australian Junior Club Championships.
What followed throughout the ensuing year was a gruelling journey to achieve that goal.
The boys spent hours in the car travelling to matches, many more in the gym training and played a number of hotly contested games against the top teams in the state.
Ultimately, the side arrived to where they are today.
Just a couple of days out from travelling to Ballarat to compete in the competition they have worked so hard to qualify for.
Illawarra coach Jaydon Beveridge said qualifying for the championships was a credit to the boys who have given their all to achieve their goals throughout the past year.
"We started trials back in October last year, so it's been a 12-month season," Beveridge said.
"There's been a lot of training, sacrifices for the parents and boys, so for nationals to only be around the corner now, it's something we're really looking forward to and can't wait to be a part of.
"The improvement from the boys has been absolutely awesome. From where we started 12 months ago to now, it's a big difference.
"Twelve months ago we set the goal of making it to under 14 club nationals. It's one of those things, at the time, you set the goal and it's unlikely. But credit to the boys, they've worked their tails off every week and put the team in a situation to be successful and make nationals."
Now that they are off to nationals, the Hawks have set themselves a new goal. Progress out of the group stages of the competition.
With a tough pool featuring Cairns, NorthWest Tasmania and Victorian side McKinnon, Beveridge acknowledges it will be a difficult assignment.
But given the improvement he's seen from the team this year, he's confident they can pull it off if they play their best basketball.
"There's 24 teams at the competition, so our goal is to win two out of our three pool games and hopefully progress to the top 12. It will be tough, we've got a tough pool, but that's the initial goal.
"If we get there, we'll go into the upper bracket, aim for top four and we'll see how it plays out. Ultimately for the boys, it's about the experience and opportunity they will receive.
"We're one of two NSW Country teams to qualify, which is an unbelievable credit to the boys hard work and effort. Whatever the result, this is a fantastic achievement."
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