Asian champs next step for rising basketball star

Bayswater basketballer Bailey Flavell has been named in the New Zealand team to compete in the FIBA Under-16 Women’s Asian Championship in Jordan in July.

The Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) Year 12 student, who is a high-scoring guard in her school’s first team and a North Harbour representative, is unfazed by adding to an already packed programme of play and training.

She loves the game and hopes to gain a college scholarship to the United States after finishing school.

The appeal is where basketball can take you, she says. “The opportunities of going away and meeting new people.”

Bailey hopes the U16s can secure New Zealand a spot in next year’s FIBA U17 world champs.

To do that, they will likely have to knock out one of the other top seeds vying to qualify in the first four places – Australia, China, Korea or Japan.

While Bailey focuses on honing her skills for the challenge ahead – aided by tips from her father, former Tall Fern and Breakers player Judd Flavell – mother Melissa Middleton, who has also played the game, will look after trip logistics.

It’s a pricey business, with those selected in the New Zealand team last week having a short time to come up with nearly $7000, including air fares.

Middleton is looking at options for fundraising to get her daughter on the plane, and is determined she will be there.

Before the Jordan trip, Bailey will play for Harbour at age-group nationals next month and compete in a Māori tournament in Rotorua.

Last year, Bailey travelled to Guam for the U15 Oceania Championship, where New Zealand finished second.

It was the first step in a possible three-year cycle, with seven girls in the national system who played at the Oceania champs, going through to the 12-member squad for the Asian champs.

The family spent several years in Melbourne, where Bailey was in a Victoria state development side. They note Australia meets the costs for its young players to represent their country.

New Zealand’s top basketball export, Steven Adams, has spoken out about how costs kept him from competing for national teams as a youngster.

The Flavells know they are luckier than some. They had their Bayswater home to return to when Judd finished a coaching stint with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Before that he was at the Breakers for 13 years.

He now coaches the Canterbury Rams, but offers Bailey tips on trips home and through video coaching. He gives “good advice”, says Bailey.

She shrugs off any pressure she might feel for being known in basketball circles for his

On the ball... Bailey Flavell hopes an Under 17 world championship and US college scholarship will be part of her basketball future name, saying: “I don’t worry about it too much.”

She has made her own choices about what to play, opting for basketball when the family were in Melbourne.

Before that, when she attended Bayswater School and Belmont Intermediate, she was involved in a wide range of sport. But as time pressures grew she focused on what she enjoyed most.

The family returned to New Zealand early last year.

Bailey chose to attend, TGS, over Westlake Girls High School, which has a stronger basketball pedigree. She timed it perfectly, coming in when the sport was on the rise at her local high school.

This year, the top team has won its way into the Auckland Premier grade.

“It will be hard because a lot of the girls are young,” she says of the season, which started with a 72-57 loss to St Kentigern.

By 2024 – her last year at school – she reckons the side will be peaking.

Bailey is focusing on building her leadership and teamwork on top of her wellestablished ability to sink three-pointers and drive to the post.