TWELVE months ago, Joel Smith came within a whisker of making the Victorian Under 18 State Basketball Team. The Sydenham resident progressed easily through the initial stages of selection before a series of practice matches were due to take place at the East Coast Challenge in Sydney.
At the time of the tournament, Smith was in America and unable to play and therefore dropped from the side.
Fast forward one year, and there would be no heartbreak the second time around, with Smith selected for the Victorian side, which will compete for a national title in Brisbane later this year.
“I have been playing basketball pretty much since I was a little kid,” Smith said.
“This is the first state team that I have made.
“To come back and make the side this year, I was stoked. I couldn’t be happier with the result.
“A lot of hard work really went into it after training for four or five months in the lead up to it.”
Smith will likely play as a shooting guard for Victoria, and is hoping to use his ability to get to the basket and his running transition game to stamp his authority on the tournament.
He brings a good pedigree into elite sport with his father, Shaun Smith, playing for North Melbourne and Melbourne in the AFL.
After originally playing football himself, Smith chose to focus on basketball when the two began to clash.
The Maribyrnong College Year 12 student is hoping to take his basketball career all the way to America.
“My goals are pretty much just looking to perform at my best in Brisbane and then hopefully make the Australian side sometime after that,” he said.
“Hopefully, after I finish Year 12 this year I would like to go on and play college basketball in America.
“It would be great to be at a Division One School and see how I go from there. That is what I am aiming for at the moment.”
