Tara Murray
The hard work and hours of travel have paid off for rising Woodend basketball star Cooper Duff-Tytler.
Having not been in the state program at the start of last year, Duff-Tytler was last week named in the Australian under-16 team to play in the FIBA Asia Cup.
The achievement is not one lost on the teenager.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I always dreamt of playing for Australia and it’s a reward for all the effort.
“I was shocked and it’s really exciting.”
Duff-Tytler was among 30 players that were invited up to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in the lead up to the squad being picked.
The players were picked on their performances at state level, with the final Australian team selected from there.
“Whoever played well they were selected,” he said. “We trained up there for a couple of days.”
The Asia Championships will see the Crocs face the likes of Japan, China and New Zealand at the tournament next month.
Duff-Tytler said he was looking forward to the challenge.
“It will be really quick and physical,” he said. “I’ve really improved leaps and bounds the last couple of years.
“I’ve put a lot more time into it with extra training.”
Having started his career at the Macedon Ranges Basketball Association, Duff-Tytler was soon playing with the Sunbury Jets.
This year he joined Keilor Thunder and is part of its Victorian Junior Basketball League Victorian championship team which is on track to making finals.
Duff-Tytler said he was enjoying his time at the Thunder and said he had a really good coach. He said he was unsure how much of finals he would play with the national team duties.
Duff-Tytler’s Keilor teammate Sa Pilimai has also been named in the Australian under-16 team.
There’s been plenty of travel for Duff-Tytler, who goes to school in PEGS in Essendon, for his sporting loves.
While Duff-Tytler is excelling on the basketball court, he isn’t 100 per cent sure that is where his sporting future lies.
As well as being a talented basketballer, he’s a budding football star as well. He was part of the Vic Country under-16 team at the national championships earlier this year.
“I’m still enjoying both footy and basketball,” Duff-Tytler said. “I’ll see where they take me.
“The footy championships we went to the Gold Coast for the champs and won the championship which was good.
“I played all right in the first game. It was a good experience.”
Duff-Tytler is part of the Calder Cannons and has been training with their under-18 squad.
For now though the focus is on basketball.
“I’ll put footy aside at the moment to train for Doha,” he said. “I’ll put in as much time as possible to make sure that I’m ready.”
