By LIAM TWOMEY
MADDISON Rocci knows a thing or two about performing on the big stage.
The Werribee teenager was part of the under-16 Victorian state basketball team that won the Australian Junior Championships last year.
Not content with just one gold medal, Rocci will be hunting for more wins when she attends the Australian Junior Championships again this year.
However, what makes her back-to-back selection for Victoria even more impressive is that this time around, Rocci is a bottom age player and will be one of the youngest members on her under-18 team.
“We played the tournament up in Sydney and I didn’t really have much of an idea (if I would make it),” Rocci said.
“We have already started training. We train every Saturday and Sunday leading up to nationals when we leave.”
The Australian Junior Championship will be held in Canberra in April.
It won’t be the first time Rocci has demonstrated her talents in the nation’s capital with the rising star also attending two Australian Development camps at the Basketball Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport.
From those camps, the Under-17 Australian team will be picked.
“I’ve been up there twice now,” Rocci said.
“It is really tiring. We did two sessions every day for about two and a half hours. But it was really fun and a great experience to meet all the good players from different states.
“There are 15 players left and we go back at the end of every month until the team is picked and then we go on a pre-worlds tour and then we go on the main worlds tour.
“I’m kind of nervous because I’m still one year younger than all those girls.”
