FOR THE first time, Maranoa Basketball Association is putting forward an all girls team to play in state tournaments later this year.

Ranging from 10 to 13 years of age, nine girls from St John's have been learning how to dribble, pass and shoot hoops over the past month in preparation for upcoming games.

"They had been training and playing mixed games with the boys but we decided to break away,” said coach of the Maranoa girls' basketball team, Travis Fisher.

"I think some of the girls felt they were being under- utilised and they're able to have more of a go when it's just girls on the court.”

Along with president of the Maranoa basketball association Matt Gane, Fisher made it his mission to grow enough numbers to form an all-girls team when he moved to Roma from Brisbane in January.

"I've always liked coaching girls' basketball so when they asked me to take over, I didn't think twice about it,” Fisher said.

"It's great there's been a resurgence in girls' basketball and enough interest for them to branch off on their own.”

While there is now more then enough girls interested to form a Maranoa team, the main issue now is that there isn't enough teams around the region to play against.

"We're constantly training, but there's no-one to play,” Fisher said.

"It looks like we're going to have to travel pretty far to play games but we're determined.”

"We have upcoming games in July in Brisbane and the girls are really excited to finally play some games.”

Fisher believes the players are improving and picking up more skills with every training, with team member Caitlin Atkins even making the U15 Darling Downs team where she will go on to the Queensland School Championships.

"We've got a lot of talented players who just want the same opportunities the boys have,” Fisher said.

"We've been lucky enough to get a grant for new equipment, but smaller clubs like ours still need more support.”