New Socks have arrived...

A new batch of socks have arrived, so those who missed out, or if you wish to purchase more, they are available.
Please let me know and I will sort it out.
We know have size 11 to 14 for those bigger players who want the large sizes.

Still $15 a pair.

Sundays training session. 29th Nov.

18 Boys and Girls did some training's together...Good sessions by both...

Then the 16 Boys joined in against the girls....





























Loser McLean with another awww inspiring speech for the troops...




Brother and sisterly love!






Get that Shirt out of here...Chad (I love myself) McLean send's Michael (Rowdy) Wallace's layup out and about...Tough to the basket Rowdy!










14 Girls trying some last minute plays....

Pt Pirie Pre Carnival

This week the Whyalla Stealers head to Pt Pirie to continue the good form they have shown coming off Pt Augusta.
With last years Pirie carnival not being very successful for the Stealers all teams will be out to improve and knock the Pirie Panthers off their perch.

The 12 boys have been in great form and will look to stay in the winners circle and will be looking to go back to back from Pt Augusta. The 12 Girls too have been on the up and up and will be looking to continue with the good form shown.

Both the 14 girls and boys teams have been playing some great basketball and will be again looking to carry on that form. With both sides now having players recently picked in the SA Country state sides, those players will be looking to get some solid work-outs for Albury.

The 16 boys will be carrying a large contingency of players and will be looking to play a fast paced game with high scoring the expectation of the day. Up tempo ball will be seen I am sure. The 16 girls team is now filled with only under 16 girls and they will now expected to play in Grand Finals now they are at full strength. Showtime is expecting big things from this team.

Both 18 girls and boys will too be looking to stay in the winners circle after showing what they are made of. Both sides are settled and have been consistent through out the combined season so far. Both coaches will have high expectations from all players.

Good luck to all players and Coaches.

2010 State team Selection

Congratulations to Lewis McLauchlan, Jasmin Bridgman, Jenna Daniels, Nikeisha McNamara, and Bianca Clements in the Under 14 for making their first State Team.

Bradley Coulson (Birthday boy 16th/11/2009) who made the Pt Macquarie team

To Rhianna Stringer for making the Under 16 Girls, Jack Vigar and Michael Baker for making the Under 16 Boys.

Tegan Crocker and Shannon Tarran for the 18 Girls and Chad McLean for making the 18 Boys.

Great job guys, and we wish you all the best.

State Try-outs

Over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of November Whyalla will be sending 18 girls and boys to try out for the upcoming state teams which will play in either Albury – Wodonga or Port Macquarie in January 2010. For some players it will be their 5th time they have tried out, for others it will be their first. All the players have an excellent chance of making it into the side. All have been working hard at club, combined and at their Development Network Squad Program (DNSP) trainings.
To make it this far and to give each player every chance most will have been putting in an extra 3 to 4 hours training on their own so they are prepared to succeed. Most also do individual trainings with Stephen Patterson, Michael Quinn or Sean Sheedy each week. All three of these coaches are also State coaches and will be heading to the try-outs selecting their teams, Michael in the U14 girls, Sean in the U17 boy’s team which will be travelling to Pt Macquarie and Stephen with the U18 girl’s team.
Under 14 girls trying out are Kimberly Hunter, Jasmin Bridgman, Taylor Crocker, Jenna Daniels, Nikiesha MacNamara and Bianca Clements. While the 14 boy’s will see Lewis McLauchlan and Josh Waugh will be try out.
In the 16 girls Rhianna Stringer, Mackenzie Burns and Zoe Crocker will be there, and in the 16 boys Jack Vigar, Michael Baker and Bradley Coulson should make a strong go of it.
18 girls will see Shannon Tarran and Tegan Crocker, while the 18 boys we will have Chad McLean and Ben Sawford trying out.
The WBA wishes each player all the best and hopes they can do us proud as those before you have done so. Good luck.

UNDER 16 Boys - Paul Robertson

Pictures only so far.....Write up to come...

UNDER 18’S GIRL’S PT AUGUSTA - By Loser McLean

It was a hot weekend and as only Pt Augusta, Pt Pirie and Whyalla nominated sides it meant the girls played 4 games on the Saturday.
The girls started well in both games against Pt Augusta and built handy leads, but Pt Augusta were able to reel the leads in but Whyalla held on in game 1 to win by 3, but lost game 3 by 1 point after the siren. The two games against Pt Pirie, Whyalla were just too big and strong and built handy leads and were able to keep Pirie at arms distance by winning both games by double figures.
Whyalla qualified top and when straight into the grandfinal where they met Pt Augusta.
Again the girls got of to flyers opening up a 12 point lead but Pt Augusta game back to level the scores in the last quarter. To the credit of the girls they took total control of the game from this point and stop Pt Augusta from scoring and ran out carnival winners by 11 points.
All the girls contributed throughout the weekend with Tegan Crocker winning the MVP for the Grandfinal
Over the whole weekend the girls rebounded well after Broken Hill improving the transition offence, teamwork and showed they have the meanest defence going around in this grade.
A job well done and roll on Pt Pirie carnival in December.

UNDER 18 MEN – By coach Sean Sheedy

A very good and successful weekend for the 18 Men, with the team of Chad McLean, Sean Butler, Ben Sawford, Michael Wallace, Adam Nicol, Mitch Gurnett, Chris Slater and Daniel Palmer winning the carnival in style. On the Saturday the boys played Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Pt Lincoln winning 1 of the 3 games to finish 2nd and play Pt Augusta in the semi finals on Sunday. The lads put in a solid effort running out eventual winners by 4 points setting up a grand final against rivals Pirie which was going to be nothing less than a physical, hard fought game of basketball.

The grand final was simply an awesome display of skill, defensive pressure, hard work and the nailing of shots from “down town”. The boys ended up winning the grand final by 10 points 56-46. The win was definitely a sweet one and one all the boys enjoyed playing in. Great effort. A big thank you to Karen Wallace as team manager, Mr Sawford for coaching a game and the parents for scoring and their support. Time now to focus on the Port Pirie carnival in 3 weeks.

UNDER 14 BOYS – By coach Sean Sheedy

The Under 14 boys had a very impressive carnival in Pt Augusta over the weekend. The team was as follows: Lewis McLauchlan, Joshua Waugh, Miles McNamara, Sammy Sawford, Callum Mitchell, Josh Finkler, Jaykn Turpin, Ryan Edwards and Issac Manisalis . The boys played 4 minor round games on the Saturday against Pt Lincoln, York Valley, Pt Augusta and Pt Pirie. With some excellent team work and good defensive pressure the boys managed to win all 4 games and finish 2nd to Roxby Downs on percentage.
A semi final against Pt Augusta on the Sunday was marked with again great team work and positive attitude from all 9 players, running out eventual winners, setting up a grand final against Roxby. The grand final was an absolute nail biting affair with the final result Roxby winning by 2 points. Even though the boys lost the game, they hung in their, played with pride and should be congratulated on their efforts. A big thank you to Trudy McLauchlan as team manager, and to all parents for your support over the weekend.

UNDER 12 GIRLS - BY Shannon Tarran

The Junior Basketball Carnival held in Port Augusta on the weekend proved to be an exciting and challenging time for the Under 12 Girls. The team was extremely lively when it came to their first game at 8am on Saturday morning and were eager to begin the day with a win. They played really well together, which resulted in Roxby Downs being no match for the young girl’s team, who came through winning 51-4. Port Pirie was the girl’s second game, and again, Whyalla came through with a win. The West Adelaide Bearcats, Division One team were the girl’s third game, and unfortunately, was the team’s first loss by about 35 points. After a loss to Port Lincoln late on Saturday afternoon, the team ran the risk of being removed from the finals campaign. However, luck was on their side, finishing third by less than 2 percent.
Sunday was kicked started by an amazing performance by the team against Yorke Valley. The game came down to the last few minutes, and after an intense surge by the Stealers under 12’s, they were on their way to a Grand Final appearance against the West Adelaide Bearcats. From the beginning it was evident to see that neither team wanted to lose the game that counted the most, with both teams coming out raring to go. The Bearcats eventually got the better of the girls, losing 28-16. Throughout the game the girls stepped up with each playing a key role in the team, and the ability going deeper than the five players on the court. The girls proved to have an exceptionally good weekend, and hope to have the same success in Port Pirie in three weekend’s time.

Pt Augusta Post weekend.

The Pt Augusta has now come and gone, I will try and get all the write ups off the coaches by tomorrow and get them here ASAP....

Til then, here's a couple of quick pictures to keep you interested....:)

Chad "I could talk about myself all day" McLean posing, and from what his dad tells me, he poses in front of the mirror alot too!


Young up and coming Superstar Sam Sawford!!!








Showtime Quinn thought he would contribute as well....umm next time "Showtime" maybe a touch bigger photo!!!

Pt Augusta Pre Carnival Ramble!!

With Broken Hill now behind us, the Whyalla Stealers turn their focus on the Pt Augusta carnival this weekend. Some changes to the teams have been made, with some children being not available for the Broken Hill carnival and others making way for someone else to have a go and show what they have to offer.
In the lead up to the Broken Hill carnival all the teams had been putting in good efforts on the training track, most teams getting good numbers to training, with only the 12’s perhaps needing more players, but with the return of the Morgan girls from their European holiday and Aaron Rogers and Tom Fischer from their QLD expedition those numbers will quickly be bolstered. Ebony Curwood and Pat Kemp have been working overtime to get the squad ready for what could prove a long season. The young charges have taken to the gruelling training sessions well and should begin to show some reward in the near future.
The 14 girls will again be looking to be competitive as will be the 14 boys, who will be coached by Sean Sheedy this carnival due to Peter Steel being unavailable. Both teams have a lot of bottom age players, which can provide at times frustration but also a lot of reward when the penny drops and it all falls into place.
The 16 boys have been able to maintain a string core of players, gaining experience from Jack Vigar and Michael Baker who have played State basketball for the past 2 years. Ben Mortimer, Jacob Smith and Dale Dunn will provide some great support; this team will pose some problems to the other regions.
The 16 girls will look to Rhianna Stringer (Who may not be playing due to a knee injury) and Mackenzie Burns for their guidance, they will be backed by Zoe Crocker, who last season made the SA Country U14 team for the first time and will be again trying out this year. With abundance to the U14 girls Jasmin Bridgman, Nikeisha McNamara and Bianca Clements have been filling in and will only gain valuable experience playing against the older girls as well as alongside the above mentioned experienced players.

The 18 boys and girls have had good numbers to trainings in the pre season, so good things will be expected from the teams. The girl’s side has been training 2 times a week and have the likes of Hayley Stone, Tegan Crocker, Shannon Tarran, Alicia Sawford and Sam Vigar who have all played at State level and should push every team they come across.
The boys have players such as Chad McLean and Michael Wallace to lead the side, with Adam Nicol and Ben Sawford to bolster the scoring options this side will also be around the mark come the right time of the carnival. This carnival looks to be one of the hottest contested on the calendar not only in action but also the weather.
With it being only 70kms down the track if you have nothing to do on the weekend head down to Pt Augusta for a look at some great basketball talent....

Broken Hill Wrap

For those who don't know about it, Broken Hill had themselves a very unfortunate fire in a fuse box just outside the stadium.
It resulted in a loss of electricity to all the stadium and a delay of a couple of hours and those games that should have been played declared a draw.



All teams had reasonable results, some not as good as expected, but first carnival too.

Under 12 Boys

The first game for the under12 boys was against Broken Hill gold. It started out as a tight contest but after quarter time blew out when the troublesome duo of Tom Fischer and Aaron Rogers upped the tempo with full court defence. Restricting broken hill and slowing down their scoring abilities allowing Whyalla to run out winners by 9 points.
The second game was ruled out due to the electrical fire. This was scheduled to be against Mildura.
Whyalla then played broken hill blue where it utilized its bench as the opposition were not up to the same standard and all players scoring points and getting good court time. Leading from the front was Adrian Hunter who continued to shine in every game top scoring again in every game and playing an excellent team game.
With the boys finishing top by percentage they then had to play the semi final at 8 am Sunday. Playing broken hill gold in what was expected to be a tight contest. The Stealers had other ideas and restricted them to 4 points total for the game. Winning 24 to 4. With this win it placed the boys in the grand final to play Mildura.
The grand final started slowly and both teams were getting good shot opportunities but failed to truly utilize them. Adrian Hunter again showing he knows how to play on the big stage and was getting some good points. He was also getting some fouls and by the 7 minute mark of the third quarter was fouled out and the team was down by 4 points. Appearing flattened by the loss of one of its leaders coach Pat Kemp called a valuable time out and encouraged her charges that all was not lost and that now was the time to show some fight and give their all. With that they did and again the likes of Tom Fischer, Josh Quinn, Jarrod Wallace Kody Rosalia all pulling deep and getting themselves right back in the game. Then with Aaron Rogers attacking the basket and getting to the foul line was able to get he game back to within 5. Josh Quinn completing a full court layup the team was in with a chance. Continuing to starve the Mildura boys of any points and mighty Tim Fischer nailing crucial foul shots the boys were only down by one, but the only jingle that was able to stop the boys from pulling of what would have been a great win was the clock and when it finally did the boys were still that one point down. A truly great effort by all and to debutant Daniel Vines who scored his first combined pints it was an excellent effort.

Under 12 Girls

Under 12 girls had a very promising start to the 2009/10 Combined season winning two out of four games played. All of the girls went into their first game very nervous with only three team members with past combined experience. All nerves were soon forgotten as the girls finished the game deserving winners, beating Mildura C by about 50 points. Second game was expected to be a lot tougher than the first, coming up against a much taller team being Mildra B. The girls soon found themselves behind chasing a margin of about 10points at one stage of the game. To the girls credit they didn't give up and by the last quarter had taken back the lead. With a very thrilling end to the game the Whyalla girls were eventual winners by 2points. The girls were not so lucky in their last two games, having to play against two very good teams, Mildura A and Broken Hill. The girls kept trying their hardest against the much more experienced teams but were beaten by the two eventual Grand Finalists. All six players being Nellie Cowan, Tia Bails, Madeline Foran, Shannon Herbert, Kelsey Mitchell and Myrrhn Milton-Hutchinson need to be commended for their huge effort and determination that they played with all carnival and for never giving up, especially in the last game when they had to play with four players on the court due to the loss of senior players Cowan and Mitchell being fouled off. Coach Ebony Curwood was extremely impressed with the way the girls listened to instructions and implemented skills that they have been practising at training over the last 8 weeks, and is looking forward to the guaranteed improvement that is to come from within the group. Well done girls.

Under 14 Boys

The first game for the boys was against Broken Hill blue. This was the first game for this team together and as expected they were slow to get out of the blocks allowing Broken Hill to get off to a good start. They failed to gain any real momentum and were eventually beaten by 22.
In the boys second game against Mildura A the boys were again up against strong opposition and with some of the Stealers failing to play good defence or stick to their players it made for a long 40 minutes. Going down t by 30 points.
Heading into the third game the boys had direct instructions on what was expected of them. Credit to the boys as they listened and begun to stop the Mildura B side from doing any score board damage while all the players were able to get into scoring positions and come out eventual winners by 17.
Game four was played on Sunday morning at 9 am and was against Broken Hill. While the boys could have taken the easy option going through the motions the chose not too and come out all guns blazing. Getting to the basket with ease and taking out a 15 point lead at half time. The boys were well drill and showed more structure in the offence and defensive end which showed they had listened and were showing obvious signs of improvement. Winning the game by 26 in the end and setting themselves up for a hotly contested final against the Broken Hill team who had beaten them the previous day.
With a controlled defence and all players fighting for the rebounds the scores remained close throughout the first half. While the boys fought the game out and with excellent effort they were not able to get over the line. The boys losing in the end by 12 and again showing that with continued training and an eagerness to learn the boys will again be around the mark at the next carnival. Credit must go to Lewis MacLauchlan and Josh Waugh who did stand out jobs and showed that if their team mates are willing to improve they may have chances to get some carnival wins. Sam Sawford and Miles McNamara stepping up to show they too have what it takes to play for the Stealers.


Under 14 Girls




The under 14 girls were unlucky in the draw as they had their first game cancelled due to the fire.
Second game was against Mildura C which the girls won easily. The cancelled game was then played at 8:50pm against Mildura A where the girls were beaten by 31 points.
Due to program changes the third game ended up being against Mildura C again where the girls come up winners by 30 points. This placed them in second position.
The semi final was against Mildura B where the girls got off to a slow start giving Mildura B a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter. By half time the girls had pulled the lead back to 6 points and heading into the last it was as close as 3 points. When young Taylor Crocker was fouled out early in the fourth quarter the rest of the young chargers stepped up to the challenge and was able to get the scores level as the final siren went. Unfortunately they fouled Kimberly Hunter who had two foul shots. Missing the first and the game still tied at 25 all she was successful on the second and Whyalla Stealers won the game 26 to 25.
The grand final was against Mildura A where they showed they were too good and beat the Stealers easily. While the girls did not win the grand final it was good that they made it.

Under 16 Girls

The under 16 girls played Mildura A in their first game in what was a shortened game due to the electrical fire. The girls losing by 2 points.
The second game was against Mildura B where the girls were not quite up to their best and allowing Mildura to hit 5 three pointers out its 20 points. Winning by 10 points.
Heading into the third game against Broken Hill “Showtime” Quinn had instructed his players to run a more structured offence which proved the difference where the girls come out to win by over 20 points.
The fourth and final game for the team was against Mildura C where the girls continued to listen to the coach and running the offence proved fruitful running out winners by 21 points. Youngsters Jasmine Bridgman, Nikeisha McNamara & Bianca Clements all showed their worth by contributing well and showing their eagerness to learn from the likes of Rhianna Stringer and Mackenzie Burns who both showed good signs of leadership.

The girls could have made it to the finals but due to the poor programming there were no semi finals in the grade and only a grand final. Had there been semi finals the girls may well have made the grand final as they were all hitting their shots and playing very good defence in the last couple of games.

MVP, MVP, MVP

While the Stealers did not come away with any Grand Final wins, they did have many shining lights, one of those is Adrian Hunter.
He was in the under 12 boys team and had an exceptional carnival. Getting the eye of the umpires many times and winning the MVP for the 12 boys Division.