TWO years ago Baxter Williams sat on the bench and scored represent basketball games, but now, following a positional change, he will be the one running the boards for a team which draws on players from across the state.
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The Year 12 Scots All Saints' College student has been selected in the Association of Independent Co-Educational Schools side which will this week take on the Independent Sporting Association and Combined Associated Schools representative teams.
Should Williams perform well he could go on to compete at the state titles, but for him just making the AICES outfit is a big thrill.
"I've never made it past WAS [Western Associated Schools] level before. I did WAS last year and the year before that I wasn't good enough for WAS, but my teachers invited me along to do the scoreboard," Williams said.
"It's very nice, it's nice to step it up a year at a time, get used to it, then move up."
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Williams first tried basketball as a Year 4 student, but it wasn't until he reached high school that he started to take it more seriously.
He is now a member of the SASC firsts which plays in the Bathurst Basketball Association competition under the guidance of coach Tony Lewis.
It was with Lewis' help that he made a positional change to centre, mostly due to his height.
"Tony is a fantastic coach, he makes it a lot of fun. That well and truly helps, I'd be hopeless if it wasn't for that," Williams said.
"I've only started playing a centre position recently and I was as green as anything. Tony built me up from scratch because it is like a whole different game playing centre.
"I'm happy to have made it in the new position, it's a bit more of a challenge for me and I'm still learning. I played a bit of everything before really, everything but centre."
Lewis again coached Williams when he played in the WAS side and as it turned out, aided his cause when it came to the AICES outfit too.
"I actually ended up sitting out the third game for WAS because at the beginning of that third game I corked my leg really badly. Then the fourth game came and just before that, the coaches had spoken and figured out who they wanted in the rep team," Williams said.
"They weren't sure about me, so Tony said I'd better go back on in that fourth game and show the selectors what I could do. The selectors didn't even end up watching, but Tony went and told them how well I went and they put me in.
"It's so good to have him at Scots All Saints', it's such a privilege. He is so passionate, if he didn't go to the selectors I would have been stuffed."
He had a training session on Sunday at Hills Basketball Stadium to prepare for a double-header on Monday on the Central Coast and another two games on Thursday at Waverley College.
"I'm excited, I'm looking forward to it, I'll be pooped by the end of it, but I'll give it all I go," he said.
