Goulburn Bears Youth League Men's coach, Jack Channells, said his team "overachieved" in 2019, and expects them to continue to surprise in the coming season.
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Last year, for the first time in eight seasons, the Bears had a men's team take to the court.
The Youth League Men's competition in which the Bears competed has an age limit of 22, but most of Goulburn's players were below 20.
The team's inexperience and smaller bodies meant Channells expected 2019 to be a year of learning for his side. Instead, they were consistently competitive and managed to win four matches and narrowly lost several more.
This year, Channells believes the Bears can push for a finals spot.
"I think we overachieved last year, we did better than what we expected," Channells said.
"This year has been a better start ... Everyone's looking strong and fit and ready to go.
"It's basically the same team but a couple of new boys. Still quite a young side but I think we'll be very competitive."
The Bears will have their first chance to prove their skills this weekend against Moss Vale.
Though their opponents will have a taller outfit, they are a similarly young side and Channells expects Goulburn's speed and agility to be the winning factor.
"I think we might be outsized a little bit, but I think with our speed and intensity, we should beat them," he said.
"Every team's different, most of our guards are on par with everyone in the league [in terms of size]. Moss Vale's got quite a young side this year as well."
Pre-season began in October for Goulburn, and Channells said the team's biggest hurdle to overcome is not physical but mental.
"We just need to show up to every game ready to play and to win and put the foot down for the full game," he said.
"We struggled to close out a couple of games last year which we could have won. We were inexperienced on closing games out.
"It's a learning curve, it's something that's hard to teach."
Close losses are often the hardest to stomach for athletes, but Channells knows the experience the team gained from those tight matches will be invaluable in years to come.
"It was very valuable, we took a lot out of last year and we learned a lot," he said. "Not just about ourselves but what we can look towards as a team."
The only way Channells know for sure if the lessons from 2019 sunk in will be to watch the boys on court. Until then, he will rest easy knowing the team has prepared as best it can.
"Everyone's excited and ready to rock and roll. We've been training since October, November last year. Physically they're all ready," he said.
"We surprised ourselves in 2019, no-one gave up. Everyone's more developed and excited to play, and not as nervous."
The Goulburn Bears will take on the Moss Vale Magic this Saturday, March 14, from 2pm at the Moss Vale Basketball Stadium.
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