Western News: February 26, 2019

WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday February 26 2019 15
Feneon chases US basketball dream
• By Gordon Findlater
PROMISING basketballer Kurt
Feneon is looking to take his
game to the next level now he
has finished his final year at
Christchurch Boys’ High School.
Feneon, 18, trains twice a
day, five times a week with
the Canterbury Rams as he
pursues a United States college
scholarship.
The forward/guard has
adjusted his game since finishing
high school. At 198cm, Feneon
was predominantly used at
centre due to being the tallest
player in his team. However,
he is now concentrating on his
game as a wing player.
“I could always dribble and do
what you need to as a guard, but
I never did because I played as a
big,” said Feneon.
Those skills were on show
this month when he travelled to
Melbourne with the Canterbury
Knights as part of a six-game
tour. Feneon shot 7/14 threepointers
for the team, which
contained a number of current
and former Canterbury Rams.
“I was always a good midrange
shooter, but I’ve really
been working on my three-point
shooting.”
He’s hopeful that form will
translate into a US college
scholarship.
Going to the US has been his
objective since he got serious
about basketball four years ago.
If it happens, he won’t be the first
DETERMINED: Kurt Feneon trains twice a day to improve his
three-point shooting and pursue a US college scholarship.
in his family to make the
trip.
His father Remi from France
and mother Jolene from South
Africa met at the University
of Mississippi – known as Ole
Miss – while there on tennis
scholarships.
“They’ve always been
encouraging me on it because of
the great experiences they had
over there,” said Feneon.
SPORTS
Just like his parents and
sister Jade, who all play premier
inter-club tennis, he also played
the sport from a young age.
However, at 13 Feneon made the
switch to basketball.
“I was okay at tennis but I
never really loved it,” he said.
“I’ve found that winning with
a team is so much better than by
yourself.”
Feneon is now training
regularly with the Canterbury
Rams ahead of their NBL season.
He will head to Dunedin with
the Knights to play the Otago
Nuggets and Southland Sharks
next month.
“I’m just trying to make
sure I’m in the best shape I can
be. I’m just waiting for that call,”
he said.
While his ultimate goal
is to get to the NBA, he will
also have other professional
playing options in the Northern
Hemisphere if he can continue to
develop.
“I’ve got a French passport
because of my dad, so Europe is
another place I could play.”
Feneon was part of the
Canterbury team which won the
national under-19 title last year,
and has also attended a number
of New Zealand age group
camps.
Trio selected
for national
netball squad
QUANTELLE Hira-Kapua, Julia
Wynands and Olivia Burnham
have been selected in the New
Zealand Secondary School
netball squad.
Hira-Kapua from Hillmorton
High School and Wynands and
Burnham both from Villa Maria
College are the only three played
from the Mainland region to
gain selection into the 22-strong
squad following a three-day
national development camp in
Cambridge.
A NZSS team will be selected
from the squad by the end of
April.
NZSS head coach and panel
member Charissa Barham said
selectors had assessed performances
at the national development
camp, the ANZ Premiership
pre-season tournament
in Ōtaki along with various
secondary school tournaments
last year.
“It has been a thorough
process and we have had the opportunity
to look at a number of
players,” she said.
“There are some athletes who
were involved with the NZSS
team last year and plenty of new
faces who are pushing hard for
selection this year.”
Burnham is one of six players
in the squad from last year’s
NZSS team which competed in
Australia.
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