Horsham basketball coach Bec McIntyre is relishing the opportunity to coach at the Basketball Australia National Performance Camp in Canberra in January.
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McIntyre said she was surprised when she was recently invited to attend by the general manager of Basketball Victoria High Performance.
"I was completely shocked and blown away," McIntyre said.
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"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent Horsham and then to represent the whole of Basketball Victoria on a national scale is a bit surreal and something that I'm super proud of and very grateful for."
For those that don't know, the National Performance Camp is a four day event where the top-40 under 15 and 17 basketballers from around the country come together for a development camp at the AIS. The best coaches from around the country will also be present.
McIntyre is pinching herself that she will be in attendance.
"Just to be there with the top 40 female and male athletes in the country is exceptional in itself," she said.
"To actually be able to be there on the floor and witness that kind of magnitude of athlete and to be there with the high performance coaches from the Centre of Excellence and the Basketball Australia coaches.
"I'm just beaming from side to side, I'm so grateful that I get to be there."
McIntyre's selection is another step in her rise through the coaching ranks.
She currently coaches the Horsham Hornets Women's side in the Country Basketball League and has been named as an assistant coach of the Country Victoria Under 18 Women's side for 2022 - the fourth time she has been involved with the team.
While her progress has been impressive, McIntyre admitted that she doesn't have any specific coaching goals other than "trying to help and impact as many kids as I can".
"I put myself out there through the state program and things like that," she said.
"You don't say no to opportunities that get you at the AIS."
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The Hornets Women's coach also has a family connection to the AIS through her late father, Gary Bird.
"When my dad was doing all of his stuff with people with disabilities he went to the Institute to an Australian Camp and he often talked about it," McIntyre said.
"So when I got the phone call it was something that is bittersweet in a way because as amazing as it was, I really wanted to pick the phone up and give dad a call and just tell him how I've been selected and (I know) how proud he would have been.
"It's amazing that I get to follow in his footsteps and continue to support and represent the HABA which is really important to me. And then to represent the whole of Basketball Victoria is a dream come true really."
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