Sport
1 February, 2026
Teenager targets top college after AIS stint
WITH his under-18s representative season just coming to an end early this month, Kobi Teasdale has wasted no time flying into Canberra to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to be part of one of Australia’s most elite representative camps – the National Performance Camp (NPC).
Kobi had an up-and-down final junior representative, missing 75% of the season with a back injury.
While he only was able to compete at state championships for this season, the talent and potential was undeniable, landing him a spot at the 2026 NPC camp with the best prospects of his age group from all around the country.
The NPC is one of the longest running elite development programs in the nation, inviting about 50 young male and female athletes aged 16-17 years old to be put through their paces.
Kobi was one of only 14 Queensland athletes to be selected to partake in this program and the only one out of Cairns selected. The camp saw a variety of different training and development programs with some of basketball Australia’s highest-level coaches running the program.
The overall goal of this camp is to prepare these players for their next step after junior rep e.g. NBL1, NBL or college basketball.
With the camp finished Kobi now will continue his training with the Cairns Marlins in the NBL1, but still has his sights set on making it into college.
While Kobi doesn’t have a set preference yet for his college, his goal is clear and he'll continue to train and work endlessly to achieve that goal.
With the NBL1 season not beginning until April Kobi has plenty of time to both recover and regroup before he tackles his first NBL1 season.
