Junior Thunderbolts impress in round two at Port Macquarie

After a tough opening round in the Waratah Junior North Eastern League divisions, almost all of the seven Tamworth teams produced markedly better results in round two at the Port Macquarie Sports Stadium.

This, Tamworth Basketball Association president Scott Ward said, was not entirely unexpected.

"We were hopeful that this round would be better outcomes," Ward said.

"The first round we were copping the best teams from Newcastle, the Central Coast, and Maitland, so that was always going to be a struggle for us.

"But when we're playing against these teams from Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Lismore, and the like, that's a bit more level pegging and more representative of where we're hoping our development's at."

The three Under 12s sides (featuring Division One boys, Division Two boys, and a girls' team) collectively won seven matches and lost just three last weekend.

The four Under 14s outfits (with a team in each of the two boys' divisions and both of the girls' divisions) struggled to produce the same consistency, winning seven games but losing nine.

The Under 14s competition, Ward said, was "looking a little bit more challenging" than the association had anticipated, though he did also note that the Under 14s Boys' Division Two side is a development team, who he said "have a lot of work to do".

Arguably the standout from the weekend was the Thunderbolts' Under 12 Girls, who won three games and lost one.

"They were in pretty good shape," Ward said.

Despite the older team's mixed results, last weekend represented an upward swing for the Tamworth teams collectively.

This, Ward said, was pleasing for two reasons.

The first was the clear determination from the players to rebound from the first round and improve in the intervening weeks.

"What would have worried me is if we went away last weekend and took a lot of heavy losses, it would have said that maybe we were seeing kids pack it in," Ward said.

"But thankfully we've got kids that are doing the work."

The second was the calibre of the coaching among the junior teams, which Ward praised.

"The coaches have kept them on track and kept that development up," he said.

"The coaches are really putting the work in for the kids and we're seeing the results, which is great."

The third round of the Waratah NEJL will be held on the weekend of Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15 in Maitland.

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