The selection came as a surprise to Rachel, despite making the state side twice before in both the under-16s and under-18s division, as the competition for selection was tougher than in previous years.

“I was pretty stoked; I thought I’d done enough but I wasn’t sure if I was what the coach was after,” she said.

Rachel went down to the tryouts before Christmas where a squad of 20 was picked.

She then travelled to Albury and played in the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup, where the squad was cut to 15.

This was then divided into a team of 10 plus five reserves after another three-day trial.

The team will contest the Australian championships at Ballarat in April, competing against teams from across the country as well as New Zealand.

Rachel has played in two Australian championships, coming sixth with the under-16s in 2013 and in fifth with the under-18s last year.

She is hoping third time will be the charm, and will come away with a medal this year.

“I can’t wait for it to come, I’m so excited,” she said.

“I do a lot of training so I guess that makes me feel a little more prepared than other years.”

The team will get together before the championships to play the Big V tournament in Dandenong in March, to get some match practice as a team.

This is Rachel’s seventh year playing the sport, in which she plays the positions of point guard and shooting guard.

Rachel currently plays rep basketball and Youth League for Maitland and is in two other training programs – the Sydney Uni Flames Academy and the National Intensive Training Program run by national male under-17s coach Mark Watkins.

She juggles her basketball commitments with a part-time job and studying for her HSC at St Mary’s Maitland.