Stawell Women's Day Basketball president, Slorach, has participated in a variety of competitions in both Stawell and Ararat.

Slorach started with the day competition in 1991 and has played a total of 54 seasons.

"Since I started playing I have only missed playing three seasons due to having babies or surgery," she said.

"I came back after about two weeks of having one of my kids.

"The nature of our competition allows people, like me, who are old, an opportunity to play a sport for a long period of time.

"Most sports go for competition and athleticism, we try and be inclusive of everyone of any ability."

Slorach started playing basketball as a teenager in Stawell, playing, coaching and umpiring.

"I never had great ability in the sport, but I just loved it," she said.

"When my kids were growing up I coached teams.

"Together with my sister Trish, we played a lot of night kids and I think that's why our kids love the sport, they were all dragged along with us."

Slorach said at one point, she was playing about four games of basketball a week.

"We probably would have fitted more in, if there were more games to play," she said.

"When I first started playing, Women's Day basketball was for married women only, but as the times have changed so have the rules of inclusion and everyone is welcome to come and join in the fun.

"One of the most memorable games was when everyone was playing in the wedding dresses. It was a laugh."

Slorach's love for basketball wasn't just in the area, she recalls many nights getting up at all hours to watch basketball on TV.

Her passion is quite evident when she talks about the decline in numbers for the competition.

"It's a great way to meet and make some life-long friends," she said.

"Basketball has been good to me, I remember some nights we would get home in the very early hours of the morning after sitting down and having cuppas with players.

"I think sometimes that can be lost in competitions but we still try and make the day competition fun and entertaining."

Stawell Women's Day Basketball is in the process of recruiting players for the upcoming season.

"We've had some people sign up which was good, but we need some more," she said.

"All we ask is people commit to the season every week - it makes it so much easier to run the competition."

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