Phoebe Aburn is proof you don't have to be tall to be a good basketball player - she was recently selected as first reserve for the New Zealand under-14 basketball team.
The 12-year-old is already as tall as most of her teachers at Fairfield School, but she is nowhere near the towering 2m heights some of her teammates are reaching.
While some would consider it a disadvantage, Phoebe says her height doesn't really matter.
''I've got a lot of skill. I'm a good dribbler, a good ball handler and I'm quite good at shooting.
''Because I'm a bit smaller, that sometimes works to my advantage because I can dodge people a bit easier and move around the court a lot quicker.''
She fell in love with the game when she was seven-years-old after seeing games on television.
The rough and tumble nature of the game was also a drawcard, she said.
For the past five years, Phoebe has been honing her skills to the point where she was selected for the Otago under-13A team, which went to the National under-13 Basketball Tournament earlier this year.
She is now waiting for a phone call from Basketball New Zealand to find out if she will be travelling with the team to Australia in January next year to compete in the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in NSW.
She hopes to hear sometime this week.
Phoebe is also a keen netballer with the Taieri Plain Year 7 netball team, and is part of the Fairfield School water polo team which recently won the B grade at the South Island Intermediate Schools Water Polo Championship.
She has ambitions to become a professional athlete when she finishes her education - either as a netballer or a basketballer.
