Leeton Eagles prepare for 2022 MIA League competition

The MIA League wasn't held last year as a result of COVID restrictions and rules, but it returns bigger again in 2022.

Leeton, Griffith, Narrandera and West Wyalong are all vying for the men's and women's titles this year, with round one getting underway in Griffith on Saturday.

Griffith and Leeton will be facing off in this round, while Narrandera and West Wyalong will go head-to-head.

Matches then head to the Leeton Indoor Stadium for three consecutive weeks.

Six rounds of the competition will be played before finals are held on November 26 at a venue yet to be determined.

This year's women's Leeton Eagles side is being coached by Josh Clyne, while Adam O'Callaghan is at the helm for the men.

Maddy Clyne has assisted in organising the competition again in 2022, but West Wyalong have taken on most of the duties this time around.

Clyne will be unavailable for the opening couple of rounds of the competition, but said she expected it to be another strong season.

"We're pretty depleted this weekend, but after that I think we will have a really strong side," she said.

"There's a mix of experience and youth. The likes of Jane O'Garey and Taya Panuccio are back again, which is great.

"They are experienced players. Then we've actually got a couple of juniors playing too.

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"Our youngest is turning 15 this month, so we've got a good range of skills in the team."

The women's team has been training for the last eight weeks in preparation for the competition.

Kicking off against Griffith will be an interesting match up, with the teams known to be fierce rivals.

The men's team are also preparing for their Griffith opponents having also trained hard in the lead up to round one.

The side had large numbers try out for the team this year, something that has been pushed by a strong junior basketball base in Leeton.

"The men's side is looking pretty good too," Clyne said.

"They had over 20 people trial for the team, which is huge. It's probably the most we've ever had. They had to have two trials because there was so many.

"We had eight under 18s kids trial from 15 to 17. It's a young side, but a lot of them are in their last year of rep in juniors, so they are all keen to keep playing.

"It's great to see so many people interested."

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