REMEMBER the name Melanie Ioannidis – there’s a strong chance you’ll be hearing it a lot in the coming years. The 15-year-old, who plays domestic basketball for the Malvern Tigers and competitive basketball for the Waverley Falcons, is already on course for success.

Her talents have already taken her to the US, where she played basketball for Waverley in North and South Carolina, Virginia and Los Angeles.

She says it was an eye-opening experience, and the Falcons dominated.

“We played seven high schools and one junior college,” she says. “And we won seven of those games; the only one we lost was to the college, by four points.”

Waverley also won the Victorian Women’s Youth Champions in August, beating the Melbourne Tigers 2–0 after knocking off the previously undefeated Diamond Valley in the preliminary final, 78–52.

“We only won the first game by a point. It was nerve-racking and intense.

‘‘This year was the first time I’d participated in that squad.”

Ioannidis’s family is involved in the game; her older sisters played basketball, and her mother has been involved with Waverley for a number of years.

“That’s how I got started [with Waverley], my sisters did tryouts and said it was really good,” she says. “I’ve been doing it since I was 10 and it’s really fun.”

She also takes the time to focus on her coaching skills, pitching in with the under-8s and the under-10s Malvern Tigers teams.

The teenagers says her sports heroes are not necessarily big-name players but the legends around Malvern and Waverley.

“They’re the people I look up to, the champion players from the local clubs, the men and women.”

Does she see herself joining these elite one day?

“Hopefully,” she says. “I want to make championship teams and just see how I go from there.”