It all started when Keiren played in the NSW Country Try-Outs in Terrigal in October last year, and was selected to play in the Under 17s NSW Kookaburras based on his strong performance.

The Kookaburras travelled to play in the Pacific Coast Slam in Port Macquarie last month, facing some of the most talented young teams in the country - and even New Zealand - over the challenging five day tournament.

The team battled it out against two teams from NZ in fact, as well as a South Australian team, teams from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and the other NSW team competing in the Slam.

It was the Gold Coast players that Keiren and the Kookaburras faced in the Grand Final, taking the win by 12 points.

This is a huge achievement, with the under 17s only having completed two days of training together before hitting the tournament.

Naturally the entire team, their coaches and families were thrilled with the win, with the Pacific Coast Slam being a significant event in Australian basketball, parts of which were televised this year.

Having achieved selection for the NSW team, and then going onto win, Keiren would like to express his appreciation to those who have assisted him in developing his basketball skills.

Thanks goes to Robert Williams, who captained the NSW School Boys, and who told Keiren to “go for it”. (Robert runs training Tuesdays at 4.30pm for those interested).

Thanks also to Kyle Abbott for all for his guidance and knowledge, and the many hours of training, and to Terry Ingram for his help with training as well.

Finally, Keiren’s thanks goes to those boys who come along to training, including Zach White, Matt Ingram and Ryan Ingram amongst others.