Academy League Magazine Issue 2 - October 2014 | Page 7

BASKETBALL

"Basketball is a tool"

DeMarcus Berry’s journey is one you’ve heard a thousand times before, but it’s one that’s amazingly true. Andrew Bishara reports.

For many, basketball, and other sports, is just considered a sport. Something you play, that you enjoy doing. But what many people don’t see when they are playing a sport is where it can lead them.

“Basketball for me,” says DeMarcus Berry, “is a tool.”

Berry has every right to believe that. From his tough rough beginnings to where he is now, Berry’s tool has brought him a life he never knew he could get.

“That’s why basketball is a tool for me, that’s what I always said. I mean, look where it took me. I live in Australia now and I never thought that.”

For the past three years, Berry has been playing as shooting guard for the Mornington Breakers in Division 2 of the Big V competition.

He’s also Assistant Coach to the team and the Mornington District Basketball Association’s Director of Coaching.

And finally, he’s the co-creator of D.R.E.A.M, a basketball organisation designed to teach kids the skills and drills to help them fulfil their dreams.

All this from a boy who grew up in the tough streets of Detroit...

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Ebert's Journey Just Beginning

Kade Ebert is set for an amazing journey in the USA. And he deserves it for his hard work, according to the man who trained him. Andrew Bishara reports.

The college basketball dream seems to have come true for Kade Ebert, but he has the potential to go “beyond” it.

That’s according to DeMarcus Berry, Mornington District Basketball Association’s Director of Coaching, the man who trained Ebert literally “day and night”.

"He has got the skills and the work rate to be a success in college basketball,” said Berry.

“I think he always wanted to play college basketball in the States and now he’s got there because he’s worked hard for it.

“If he continues to work hard he can go beyond college.”

At just 19 years old, the Mornington Breakers point guard has become part of a select few to head to the United States on a four year basketball scholarship with Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Ebert has already joined up with the NCAA Division Two team, after receiving a cheque of support from Mornington District Basketball Association (MDBA).

A home grown talent who grew up in the Mornington area, the talented youngster went to Mt Eliza Secondary College and Moorooduc Primary School as a child.

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