Fly like an Eagle … To Dubai!

Continuing the trend of Diamond Valley Eagles being selected to represent our country and don the prestigious green and gold in recent years, a big congratulations goes to our very own Abi Akintola who has just been named in the Australian U17 Men’s team for the FIBA U17 World Championship for Men, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from August 8 to August 16.

Akintola took part in the last selection camp for the U17s and has earned a spot alongside a number of his Vic Metro State team teammates over the years, some of which attend Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra alongside him. This achievement for Abi has been the result of a lot of hard work and time invested in ‘getting better’. In any craft, a key separator is unrequired work, which over time, adds up and gives athletes the opportunity to accomplish great things.

Abi and company will be in Group B for the tournament, taking on Canada, France and Japan in their pool games. Abi’s focus will be full-steam-ahead on the World Championships now, with his Centre of Excellence team completing their allocated games in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) for season 2014, the peak of which was a strong 8 point, 7 rebound and 2 assist performance against Sandringham last month.

"Everybody at Diamond Valley is extremely proud of Abi’s achievement and the continued success of Diamond Valley juniors flowing into our State and National programs. There have been many coaches involved in Abi’s development over the years – Rob Coulter, Anthony Allen, Ross Wignell and Paul Gorriss most prominently. Abi’s ability to play multiple positions and defend positions 1 through to 5 is a strength of his game and now he gets to demonstrate it on the world stage. Congratulations to Abi and his family from all of us at the Eagles." said Diamond Valley Technical Director of Coaching, Alan McAughtry.

Abi’s class, versatility positionally and impeccable character are all traits that have lead him to selection for the Australian U17 Men’s team and are the same traits that will put him in a great spot to contribute in the green and gold on the world stage – best of luck to Abi and the Aussies in Dubai!




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