Emily Cooney (15) and Briar Craig (13) have been selected for the under-16 and under-13 New Zealand Storm basketball teams, respectively.
The pair will travel to Las Vegas for a tournament in July.
This will be Emily’s first time overseas and Briar’s first time going to the United States.
Briar was looking forward to developing her game more, while Emily could not wait to meet her team-mates and make new friends.
Both play age group representative basketball for South Canterbury with Emily also playing for their women’s side.
They had been selected after one of the coaches, Bert Tobia, had spotted them at recent tournaments.
New Zealand Storm is a nationwide club that selects players from all over the country.
It is not a Basketball New Zealand programme.
The Las Vegas Live tournament hosts boys and girls age group sides from across the US.
"It’s going to be a step up", Emily said.
The trip is fully self funded and the pair ran a basketball camp in Waimate last month as a fundraiser.
They have another lined up with the possibility to hold one in Geraldine as well to help raise the money.
