NBL1 debut: Former Warrnambool basketballer Leah Bartlett to play for Hobart Chargers

Leah Bartlett, 18, will suit up for Hobart against Ballarat Rush in the south conference on Friday night.

Bartlett moved to Tasmania to study medicine.

Mermaids coach Lee Primmer said her opportunity in NBL1 - the tier below WNBL - came by chance.

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He said the Big V club, which plays division one in the Victorian competition, was considering Bartlett for its Melbourne-based games.

"I said I'd find a team for her to train with in Hobart and I said 'realistically the Hobart Chargers are in NBL1 and you're good enough to play for them but I'd think they'd have their team in concrete now'," Primmer said.

He spoke to their coach Mark Nash - a former NBL player - about Bartlett joining their training squad.

But the promising guard impressed, earning a spot on the Chargers' roster.

"She trained Monday and I spoke to him yesterday (Wednesday) and he said 'she's going to help me no end and I would like to suit her up on Friday'," Primmer said.

"She is down in Hobart for five years and she would've played for us this year as a fly in, fly out player but her future is elsewhere.

"If she's going to be there for five years (studying) and can play at the NBL1 level for the next five years and become as good as she could become (that's great).

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"We'd never hold back a promising junior."

Primmer said it was a reward for Bartlett, who grew up in Terang and was overlooked at Vic Country levels.

"It is just another story - you can make it if you have the right contacts and you work hard enough," he said.

Nash told The Standard Bartlett deserved a chance at a higher level after being "really impressed watching her in one training session".

"What really stood out was her basketball IQ and ability to make good decisions on the court, find the open players and right players at the right time," he said.

"That's something you can see pretty quickly, when someone has that. It's often hard to teach if it's not there."

Nash said Bartlett would be thrown into the action against Ballarat.

"Leah has been added to the roster and at the moment our team has been decimated by injuries so there's perhaps more opportunity for a new player coming in a week into a season (than there would be normally)," he said.

"Against Ballarat, I'd expect she'd be in the game in the middle of the first quarter or thereabouts, just giving us another option on the wing."

Nash hopes being part of the Chargers' program will help Bartlett settle into her new state.

"It's a tremendous opportunity to connect with the community - basketball is a really good family when you're away from home," he said.

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