The Illawarra's under-14 basketball team is determined to ensure the coronavirus lockdown does not hamper their preparations for the upcoming Australian Club Championships.
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The side is preparing to travel to Dandenong for the competition during the next school holidays, having qualified as the top team in NSW Country.
The Junior Hawks are unable to train due to the Greater Sydney lockdown, with team officials optimistic restrictions will ease to enable the side to compete at the event.
"We'll have to see how things go over the next few weeks," coach Michael Turton said.
"We're hoping the country areas will be able to break away and we're able to get out and compete.
"This time off isn't too bad for us, the good thing is we've got time. We've set some individual programs for the kids to work on and it will just be a matter of adjusting to match play once we're back."
Turton coached the representative side to a Country Championships triumph two years ago, the bulk of that team in the current squad.
The emphasis at the junior levels was on skill development and the coach said it was pleasing to see that work bear fruit as the boys grow up.
"We set the target pretty early on in the year, we had a few goals but the big one was to make nationals,'' he said.
"From our under-12s team we've brought six boys back and added some kids that have taken us to the next level.
''Those kids in the under-12s have been developing for two years now and it's awesome to see."