Left: Hydie's Hightops are on the rise in the Naracoorte and District Basketball Association (from left): Jaimenino Lanquido, Edgardo Talaroc, Henry Garcia, Hydie Coronel (holding Thraviz Coronel), coach Leoncio Coronel, Enrico Panuncio, Redjie Urmenita, Darren "Dwayne" Torres and Silvestre Paeldin. All players pictured are from the Philippines, with the multicultural team also featuring players from China, New Zealand and one Australian.
IN their second year of basketball, Hydie's Hightops are starting to make their mark on the Naracoorte and District Basketball Assocation.
Mostly made up of Filipino migrants, with one New Zealander, one Chinese and one sole Australian, the Hightops had reason to celebrate their draw against the Under 18 Squad team two weeks ago.
Although at the time they believed they had won due to a scoreboard error, their draw still puts them ahead of their three wins last season - now with three wins and a draw.
All the players in the team work at the meatworks, where the team was formed.
Team organiser and Filipino migrant Hydie Coronel, who has been in Australia seven years - two in Naracoorte - said the group usually played socially on weekends "whenever we could".
They were approached by a fellow meatworker who was already playing in the association - Tui Makarare - about forming a team and competing in the association.
"He told us if we could play basketball we should come out and form a team," Coronel said.
And so they did.
They even just recently started donning their own personalised uniforms - but not without some problems.
The uniforms did not arrive for the start of the season.
"We had them made in the Philippines so we had to wait for them to come here," Coronel said.
He said the team had enjoyed their time playing against and associating with a different crowd rather than the migrant community.
"It's been very entertaining," Coronel said. "It's good to meet new people."
But some things are difficult when playing some of the other teams.
"They are too tall," Coronel laughed.
Their work has also posed a problem in recent weeks with the team struggling for numbers as players succumb to the physical nature of their dayjob.
But Coronel is hopeful the team can still play finals and "beat the really tall guy (Blue Boys centre Paul McRostie)".