Hoop dreams can become a reality for Rowville Secondary College student, Hayley Letts who has been awarded the first joint Sports Excellence Scholarship Fund (SESF) and MCC Foundation scholarship to participate in the 2021 Australian Junior Basketball Championships.
15-year-old Hayley is in Year 10 at Rowville Secondary College, and has impressed as a Forward in recent seasons for her club side, the Melbourne Tigers in the Victorian Junior Basketball League and in the Basketball Victoria State Development Program.The Championships are set to take place in July in Perth, Western Australia and are a welcome return for junior basketballers all over the country after the majority of basketball in 2020 was restricted to backyards.
SESF and MCC will provide a grant $1,000 to Letts and her family, to cover costs of travel, uniform and levies as part of representing Victoria at these championships.
Applications for 2021 SESF Scholarships are now open, visit here to register.
Hayley will also be assigned a mentor through the SESF’s mentorship programs that sees ex-Olympians and current professional athletes work with scholarship holders to guide them through their sporting and academic ambitions.
The scholarship is the first awarded since applications for SESF scholarships opened for the 2021 calendar year, and since the SESF and MCC Foundation partnership was formally launched at the MCG in May.
As a major partner, the MCC Foundation will contribute financially to support bursaries for students who are chosen to represent their state or country but whose financial circumstances would otherwise prevent them from participating at these Championships.
Speaking on her behalf, Hayley’s mother Kym, said the funding provides enormous relief for the family to help Hayley chase her goals.
“Hayley receiving this scholarship will help towards the cost of this trip which include airfares to Perth, accommodation plus food and transport. This will be such an enormous help financially,” Kym said.
“We’d like to say a huge, big thank you to the MCC and SESF.
“We are so grateful for your grant, it will be a huge help in getting Hayley to compete in Perth.”
For more information on the Fund, visit sesf.org.au