A Wellington basketball prospect being hailed by his coaches as a potential future professional player in the making might get the opportunity to trial in the United States after being offered a spot in Virginia.
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Shelby Stanley is currently enrolled in the Wellington Youth Mentoring Basketball Program, a free activity program aimed at equipping youths with skills to serve them later in life.
The program, started in June 2018 by Corey Sutherland has been helping kids train and travel with the assistance of other programs and local businesses.
"We've gone to places like Gilgandra and Canberra and we've helped them develop a lot of skills and knowledge," Mr Sutherland said.
The group have been meeting frequently, despite the loss of their usual basketball courts.
"We rocked up one day and found fences up and the courts were being torn up, council told us the courts weren't getting used, which we hadn't been told about," Mr Sutherland said.
"We found some alternative courts at Wellington High School that we use now, but we don't have the supervisors to have both courts open at once, so we're limited."
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"We started with about forty kids and now we've dropped to about twenty, but the kids who regularly attended and do the right things are still here."
Shelby is among the numbers of kids who have been training hard, and is already seeing the results after narrowly missing out on a trials spot in Melbourne.
"We took Shelby to Melbourne and he tried out for a team that was going to travel to Houston and Los Angeles, the verdict there was that he still needs some development," Mr Sutherland said.
As a result, Shelby was invited to trial in Virginia, where a two-day long tournament and a wealth of on the ground training under the eyes of some of the United State's 'notable coaches' will decide what happens to Shelby next.
"He's had people of a very high caliber tell him that they think he's a good talent," Mr Sutherland said.
Shelby is being supported by a community-led fundraiser aimed at providing him a pathway to the US in time for the trials in Viriginia.
"It's a stepping stone to be better than he is and become a better man and a better player," Mr Sutherland said.
Organiser Jessica Forgione called the opportunity a 'once in a lifetime experience'.
Donations can be made online at 'USA Basketball Pathway for Shelby Stanley' on Facebook.
