Having never really played basketball before, the girls thought it would be fun to try something different.

On Tuesday, September 17, Madison Richards, Summer Edwards, Elana Pope, Amarlie Stephenson, Selina Denyer and Paige Connell made the trip (thanks to several willing parents) to the Saxby Stadium in Taree, with their teacher, Mr Keen to take part in the small schools gala event.

Along with the one Barrington team, Moorland and Mount George Public Schools both brought a team, while Mitchells Island and Krambach fronted two teams, and Coopernook had a collection of three teams.

For all of them it was the first time playing basketball, but for some of them, they'd had a bit of experience playing netball. However, that didn't work to their advantage.

"The girls lost the first game because they really had no idea how to play," Dave explained.

"Once they realised that it was not netball and how much they could throw themselves into it, they went hard."

It was after the first game that some of the experienced Taree Tornado players and coaches mentoring the event, took the Barrington girls aside and gave them a few tips on how to play, and that made all the difference.

"They won ever game after that," Dave smiled.

For Amarlie, the tallest one of the group, once she figured out how to shoot, she was almost unstoppable.

The girls played a total of four 15 minute games with a break in the middle for some skills training with the mentors.

The 10 teams were divided into two pools with Barrington playing against Mitchells Island, Coopernook, Moorland and Krambach.

"They all had a really good time and the parents and I had a blast watching them," he said.

"One of the girls, who is not typically interested in sport, is now considering joining the local competition."

The event wasn't about winning or losing, it was about having fun and learning new skills.