Advantages and disadvantages to each. Rangers and Cavs both powerhouses. Would typically get their 1s sides into the championship and classic. That's obviously a great opportunity. Those clubs also tend to attract a few recruits along the journey.

Pakenham is less of a power but has a good demographic profile and I’d expect their 1s to be top 20 most years.

I’ve seen lots of girls move from mid tier clubs to power clubs and I’ve rarely seen a benefit. In fact, it has been detrimental in most cases other than for the absolute best of the best.

I’d suggest most are better off being top 3 in a mid ranked club, playing good minutes and learning to take responsibility and lead as opposed to being 8-10 in a team that plays classic but playing a peripheral role on limited minutes. That assumes the mid ranked club has decent coaches and a decent program- I know nothing of Pakenham’s program.

I agree with above. Going to a big club can mean you get lost in the system and end up number 8-10 on the bench with limited minutes and limited investment put into you. It's better to have more opportunity, responsibility and playing time at a mid-level club. Having said all that, regardless of where you play, if you really want to be good you need to get some private skills coaching. Team coaches don't have the time to totally invest in individual fundamentals at training. I would recommend finding a coach who helps with teaching proper shot technique, footwork, ball handing, etc for one session at work as well. At least in the off season.

When we realised how serious she was a few months ago we started getting her private lessons once a week with and American who plays for the Big V team.
We also put her up into U14 in domestic to give her more of a challenge and so she could get use to competing against the older girls and using the size 6 ball

she just needs to play and have fun and be in a group where she has friends. you only get better by playing. you can always move later if it suits you to do that. dont get too serious too early. girls drop out at an alarming rate becuase it gets too serious too soon. get the basics into her in a fun way and that opens the game for her to enjoy it on a friday night. engagement leads to progression and remember it is not linear and do not compare to others there are so many factors involved until they are fully grown and mature.

If you think she's good enough or tall enough to be in the 1's team of Casey or Dandy even at bottom age next year then I'd look to move her. Even if she'll be the 8-10 player in the rotation, she'll be around and be training against the best on a weekly basis which, i personally think, will be good for her development. It'll be really painful for her or you to see her benched in games though. Their 1's team also tend to have better coaches.

Otherwise, i'd stay in Pakky for 1 more year. Let her enjoy her bottom age/ 'development' year and look to find more development outside of rep ie skills academy, additional weekday domestic, school holiday camps, 3x3 tournaments, play up in domestic, multi/ other sports like footy or soccer, etc. Sometimes Rowville also has school holiday camps.

She actually just did a 2 day basketball camp at Rowville and absolutely loved it. We put her up to under 14s in domestic this season and she is currently doing a weekly private lesson with a Big V player.
We were hoping she could still play in her under 12 team for some extra game time but they wouldn't allow her to be in both. If the Jnr Super League have enough teams next season we might put her in that.

Skills academies is an interesting one. She did do lessons with AMB for a term earlier in the year but didn't really enjoy it, which is why we changed to the private lessons.

Thank you for the advice, it is really appreciated

Politics and neoptisim tend to dominate these days. And this will continue to get worse as the popularity of junior basketball explodes in Victoria - unless BV creates more opportunities for more players to play.

That will require ..
1/ More Venues to play at
2/ More focused competitions with and emphasis on Domestic leagues being the proper pathway into a REFINED Representative competition.

Considering all of that, IMHO, the best way for a girl to progress through the ranks to maximise her chances of selection into Youth League teams and beyond later on is ...

1/ Significant amoounts of PERSONAL Training (Private sessions, and private practice at every opportunity)

2/ Significant amounts of playing time in a team where she can consistently play a pivotal role and influence the outcome of games herself. That could mean prolific scoring, profilific assisting, prolific rebounding, and significant on court leadership. Ideally, this should be in a team that is at least "Mid Tier". Being a great player in a very weak team doesn't serve well. Being a weak player in a great team is even worse - unless you are in it just for the glamour.

3/ Training sessions with teams are important. That is one place where a player can regularly show they want to play a significant role in influencing training and game outcomes. However, team training sessions should not be the lynchpin for skills development. Private Coach sessions and prolific private practice are!

4/ WATCH plenty of games. Be it YL, WNBL1, Womens College, WNBA. This provides the opportunity to identify the way the game is played a higher levels, the trends in the game, and the key characterstics that the best players have and share.

Also keep in mind, no amount of skill will easily trump Association / Club / Team politics. Politics and nepotism always win out. The ability to identify this early is important as it gives the player the opportunity to look at alternative options. That could mean moving teams, moving Associations, or even moving to a different sport. (Eg. Moves from Basketball to Australian Rules football are becoming increasingly popular at mid to late teen level simply because there are more opportunities to progress.)

The player that wants to progress should ALWAYS be loyal to themselves first. However this does not exclude the ability to be a great club person and team player at the same time. It is always about balancing these things to best advantage. (And this applies to any sport.)

Good Luck. It is a great ride. And it usually never works out the way you expect it too. That is part of the fun!