The Victorian teams from the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL), have been announced for the 2024 National Junior Classic (NJC). The Classic will feature the best teams from Victoria and interstate, from South Australia (SA), New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT), all of whom have demonstrated exceptional performances to secure their spots.
Congratulations to the following VJBL teams who have been selected to represent their associations at the 2024 NJC, which is held over the King’s birthday weekend (8-10 June 2024).
The best 128 teams (both boys and girls) from across Australia compete in the tournament, with teams from metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria qualify based on performance while interstate teams from New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and New Zealand are all able to nominate teams to qualify.
Teams are selected based on their ability and previous tournament or competition results within the team’s home state or region.
The VJBL teams cannot wait to hit the court. Casey’s Under18.1 Girls Coach, Joe Turner is proud of his team and is excited to see how they will go up against the best of the best, “I could not be prouder of the group for qualifying for the Classic. After losing two fantastic players from the group - Emilija Dakic and Sitaya Fagan - to the Centre of Excellence at the start of the season, bringing two players up from the Under18.2s team and fielding a team with six bottom agers, is a tremendous achievement and shows the talent and potential they all possess individually and as a team. The girls have fought and battled through VJBL and are rewarded with the opportunity to compete against Australia's best. We have spoken all year about the players having the opportunity to write their own story and still achieving great things and they have ticked every box along the way. Along with their on-court talents, the players have taken complete ownership of the team, leading, and conducting their own pre-game meetings to identify key points of emphasis for each game. They are ready for the challenge and everything that comes their way at the Classic and I know that they will represent Casey very proudly. Go Cavs!”
The Bendigo Braves Under 14 girls' team have been putting in extra training to ensure they are bringing their ‘A game’ to the tournament. Kristen Gordon, team manager for Bendigo Braves, describes the lead up for their team so far, "This season’s Bendigo Junior Braves Under 14 Girls team has had a great start to the year and are extremely excited to be gearing up to compete at the National Junior Classic, with lots of preparation happening over the last few weeks, after winning Junior Country Champs (JCC). The girls are excited to be playing against the best metropolitan and interstate teams and are looking forward to the challenge ahead."
Diamond Valley’s Under 18 boys coach, David Quinn explains how it was their aim to book their 2024 NJC ticket, “The boys have worked incredibly hard to qualify for the Classic and I am so proud of this group for the ongoing development they have shown so far this season. Six of these players were involved in the 18.1 boys team last year that missed Classic qualification by 1 game, and our goal this year was to book our ticket and give it our best shot at a medal. Now we are there, we are excited to see how far we can go against Australia’s best talent.
This group are such respectful young men who work so hard to improve each week and are a pleasure to coach. They have taken onboard consistent feedback at training, games and in our film sessions they have really bought in to what we are trying to build throughout the season.
These boys are prepared to perform at their best and we look forward to the challenge of competing in the National Classic and representing our great club on such a big stage. Go Eagles.”
The weekend offers the opportunity for the teams to compete in a high-quality tournament, with an electric atmosphere!
If you can’t make it to watch the games live, we will have livestream information being announced shortly.
For all of your NJC resources and further information
