Albury-Wodonga Bandits' coach Matt Paps to focus on youth this season

Bandits' youth league players Tahli Smith and Ruby Watson are likely to make the step up into the senior ranks, while Casey Ardern will take to the court before heading off to college in the US.

"We're going to be very young," Paps said.

"It will be very much a development year for the young ones.

"A lot of them will be thrown into the deep end, which will be good for them.

"At this stage there's no imports because of border closures.

"But that means there will be opportunities for someone else, so we'll just look at it from that point of view."

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Victoria's recent snap COVID-19 lockdown set Paps' move to the border back, with the Melbourne based coach currently commuting once a week to attend training.

He missed his first season at the helm of the border outfit due to the cancellation of last year's competition.

It was the first time the former WNBL assistant coach had had a break from basketball since 2012.

With the NBL1 fixture now released, Paps is hoping to see the side finally return to the court.

"Pending COVID, it's nice to have a bit of clarity about the season going ahead and what it looks like," he said.

"At this stage it looks like a pretty normal season, which will be great."

The Bandits are scheduled to take on Ballarat at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre for round one of the season on Saturday, April 17.

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