SBA development officer Leyton Haddleton took the time to have a chat with Laura Jackson and Maddie Tinnock on their recent achievement of being selected to be in the Academy Southland and also Cam Archer on going into year two as well as being named in the Southland Sharks as a Development Player.

 

Interview with Maddie and Laura:

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Leyton Haddleton (SBA) - Congratulations on being accepted into the Academy Southland, Laura, what does it mean for you to be in the Academy?

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Laura Jackson (LJ) – It will be great for my development and just try to get me as far as I can go in my Basketball career, giving me guidance on what I should be doing and working towards.

SBA –Maddie, why did you apply to be in the Academy?

Maddie Tinnock (MT) – On talking with my parents we agreed that the Academy would help me improve not only physically but with my mentality towards my approach to basketball.

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SBA – so where do you want to go with your basketball?

MT – Id like to go as far as I can, I’d really like to go the states and play at the college level.

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SBA – what would it mean for you to go to the states and play?

MT – there are a lot of things to consider, like, money wise and being away from parents for the whole year. The balance that would be required, working (School) and basketball means basically no other time to have much of a social life, make friends, the colleges are massive so that will be a challenge.

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SBA – What about you Laura, what do you want to do with your basketball?

LJ – go as far as I can, end goal to be at college in the states, which would be amazing.

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SBA – do either of you have any aspirations to represent New Zealand?

LJ – Yes definitely! That would be crazy, amazing!

MT – Any kid would want to!

LJ - Yeah!

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SBA – Who do you look up to in your basketball? Anyone in particular that you follow on social media?

LJ – Charlese Ledger-Walker, she is amazing, just how far she has gone and that is the path that I want to go on, taking the same step to do what she is doing.

MT – There is one in America, Paige (Bueckers), she’s a 3 like me, built like me, shes very fast, great shooter and she is really really good!

SBA – Yes Paige is legit!

MT – I always watch her highlight videos on youtube and follow her on Instagram

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SBA – who has helped you the most in your basketball career so far?

MT – I have a mix of people, obviously from school, Lucy (Kean) and Bert (Tobia) have brought my skills up, and also I have had Jo Thompson that has built on the stuff that has already been built. But as a base, Bert and Lucy have put in a lot of hours into my development.

LJ – Agreed, we have had a lot of support from school with Bert and Lucy as they are always there and you can tell that they are really passionate for southland basketball and stuff, they really want you to go as far as you can and are really helpful.

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SBA – How did you celebrate your acceptance into the academy?

LJ – We went out to dinner as a family

MT – I got a high 5 and hugs! I rang Mum at work and she was pretty happy 😊

 

Interview with Cam Archer (CA)

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SBA – Tell me about year 1, what did you get out of year 1 at the Academy?

CA – You do a lot of Mental and Mindset things, so like “next play mentality” and how do deal with those types of situations of adversity, then we had Covid, so it kinda didn’t have a lot of seminars.. a lot of nutrition, recovery, you have Tyson (Huia) in the gym so that was good for strength and conditioning, just a really good all round first year.

 

SBA – In the Academy you get to work with Athletes in different codes, are you learning anything from them? And what are those relationships like?

CA – Its interesting to see what type of trainings they have, eg Liam Hewitt is a golfer and his work outs are quite different to ours, but there are some that are the same. So seeing how workouts are specific to sport and how that helps.

 

SBA – what are you hoping to get out of year 2?

CA – Well, year 2 is more of a leadership year, so its more about directing your own path, so having the tools and guidance to create my own pathway and directions to achieve in my sport.

 

SBA – You have just been announced as a development player for the Southland Sharks, what is your main goal for this year for your involvement in the Sharks Squad?

CA – This year for me will be about learning from the best players, having their guidance and experiences to help me go as far as I can, cant wait!