Chance Powles and Kaylah Moon are bound for the bright lights of the United States, joining a basketball tour in December. Photos: Emily Donohoe.
Rochester’s own Chance Powles and Kaylah Moon have their sights on the United States, as they prepare to take off in December for the basketball trip of a lifetime.
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The pair will partake in a two-week tour of Texas and Los Angeles, catching NBA and college basketball games, shooting hoops and sightseeing along the way.
“We have the opportunity to go over and play seven games of basketball against college teams, so a super-exciting experience,” Kaylah said.
“We get to do a bit of touring stuff as well while we’re over there, so it’s not all just basketball.”
Chance and Kaylah began their basketball journeys with the Rochester Tigers, moving into the representative squad and later the Victorian Junior Basketball League after playing in the Shepparton league.
The VJBL is the highest junior competition in the state and has presented the opportunity for the US tour.
“The VJBL coach saw us playing and we both got asked to join their team,” Kaylah said.
“Through the VJBL, they do the USA tour, and we were asked to join that.”
Chance and Kaylah with their Rochester Basketball Association U12 girls team as part of the Echuca Basketball Tournament.
Photo by
Emily Donohoe
Kaylah is looking forward to building her basketball skills, as well as her connections with her teammates.
“Experiencing the two weeks away with the team and getting to know everyone a lot better,” she said.
“The different style of basketball that we’ll be exposed to.”
Community members have rallied around the pair, jumping on board with donations and supporting their fundraisers.
Among the initiatives they have run include a bake sale and catering the Rochester Basketball Association grand finals night.
“We’ve been very lucky, all the local businesses have been super supportive,” Kaylah said.
“We've had some generous (monetary) donations from businesses.
“But also goods and services ... we’ve had some that went towards our bake sale that we ran, and then some towards the night we ran at the Rochy grand final.”
The duo will continue to fundraise in the community before jetting off.
A GoFundMe has also been set up to help the young basketball guns achieve their dream trip in a few months’ time.
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