For the past month, Country High Performance Coach, Curtis Sardi, has been travelling across Country New South Wales conducting numerous coaching workshops and development opportunities for athletes in Country NSW.
Sardi continued his work with the State Performance Program (SPP) which is the first tier of Basketball NSW High-Performance Program. The program is run over three terms and from the athlete’s perspective, there is a strong focus on the identification, development, and support of individuals aged 13-17. He conducted seven workshops across regional NSW which included towns such as Tumut, Wagga, Gosford, Maitland, Illawarra and Moss Vale.
Sardi also recently conducted two high-class development clinics in Dubbo over two days on the 15th & 16th of May. Sardi worked with 43 athletes and seven coaches over the two days, focusing on U12-14 & U16-18 development and skill improvement. Sardi also included a coaching workshop for coaches in the local area to attend which focused on improving communication and overall growth in the role.
Adding to his jam-packed month, Sardi also attended the two-day Basketball Australia Coaches conference at the Centre of Excellence in Canberra.
Sardi said that the Coaches Clinic was a great opportunity for himself to continue with his own personal development as well as networking and learning from other passionate coaches and presenters at the event.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to go to Canberra and attend the highly inspiring coaches conference,” Sardi said.
“It was great as basketball is such a rapid changing sport, it was great to continue to learn and grow as a coach from so many influential and different people.”
Another highlight for Sardi was undertaking a coach development trip lead by Pat Hunt and was joined by fellow BNSW staff members, Metro High Performance Coach, Sam Gruggen and NSW Coach Development Manager, Shaun Rodger. Lead by Hunt, Sardi and his co-workers travelled to Maitland and Newcastle to conduct an SPP workout which he said not only assisted the athletes immensely, but also continued the personal development of all three BNSW Coaching staff.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Maitland and Newcastle with Patrick in which I received some valuable advice that I will take on board in my role,” Sardi said.
“It was also to get to be on the court with Sam & Shaun as we don’t get to get on court or around each other on the court very often.”
Another high-point for Sardi and Country NSW was that eight country athletes have also been selected to be a part of the state’s National Performance program. The National Performance Program (NPP) is the top tier of the Basketball NSW High-Performance Program. The program aims to facilitate an effective and efficient intensive program for NSW’s elite basketball athletes. The NPP will provide development, training and support for these eight athletes, which have been identified at the national level. Whilst also aiming to prepare athletes for selection into the Australian Under 17 and Under 19 junior teams, and beyond.
Finally, Sardi also assisted in running the 2018 U14 Talented Athlete Program camps in Narrabeen with Basketball NSW, Metro High Performance Coach, Sam Gruggen. The Talented Athlete Program (TAP) is a single camp-based program that aims to expose a group of 50 selected athletes to the NSW/Australian Style of Play and concepts of play whilst also providing educational opportunities for athletes in the field of nutrition, injury prevention, and effective rehabilitation exercises.
The first camp consisted of 50 male athletes over 2.5 days along with seven coaches with the second also consisting of 50 female athletes across 2.5 days and six coaching staff.
“It was very exciting to see our new upcoming basketball athletes at TAP from all around the state,” Sardi Said.
“It was our first opportunity of many more to come and committed to working with these 100 athletes. They all have some promising & exciting times ahead in the future.”
On behalf of Sardi and Gruggen, we wish the best of luck to all the athletes, coaches and staff as they prepare for the U16 Australian Junior Nationals on the 6th-13th of July held on the Sunshine Coast.
U16 NSW Country V U16 NSW Metro (Free Entry)
June 23, 2018
Men – 10:00AM
Women – 12:30PM
Singlet Presentation – 11:45AM
Newcastle Basketball Stadium
2018 Australian Under-16 Junior Championships:
July 6-13, 2018
University of Sunshine Coast Stadium and Caloundra Stadium
Sunshine Coast, Queensland