Basketball NSW recently held a number of exciting activities around the state, as part of the NSW Legacy Program during the April School Holidays.
The I AM A GIRL Come N Try road-trip activations focused on the eager future female hoopers on the South Coast and the New England regions while the BNSW x IBA Camps aimed towards avid young ballers were hosted on the mid-north coast & north coast communities of NSW.
BNSW’s Community Growth Programs Administrator, Amy Nolan, spent a week travelling down from Queanbeyan, to Merimbula to Shoalhaven (and everywhere in between) to hold a number of free basketball sessions for excited girls aged 7-18. Meanwhile, our devoted Regional Development Officers Cristi Juffermans and Lauren King spent time focusing on the New England, Northern Rivers, North-Eastern and Mid-North Coast regions, delivering both the I AM A GIRL and IBA activations.
A highlight was seeing over 500 girls on the courts as part of the IAAG Clinics – a thrilling reception for the program! This is a huge number of female participants, particularly across some of the smaller regional areas that were visited, and we hope the girls we encountered feel inspired to continue playing basketball! These free sessions give all girls (regardless of skill and abilities) a taste of all the different aspects of basketball, in a safe and supportive learning environment, created to inspire the next generation of female basketballers.
Complimentarily, the BNSW & IBA camps were received with open arms, as an excess of 300 participants aged between 7-21 spent the day honing in on their basketball skills, in towns such as Woolgoolga, Quirindi and Gunnedah. We hope the youth that joined us feel empowered and encouraged to keep developing their skills and abilities and keep challenging themselves to elevate regional grassroots basketball.
Amy, Cristi and Lauren would like to give a massive thank you to all associations, coaches, officials and volunteers, who also make these days successful by providing assistance on and off the court including providing information to parents and guardians about what opportunities are available locally, in order to create a long-term relationship with the youth and families that attended a session.
Particularly, a big thankyou to Centacare New England North West for your support in running our event at Tamworth and the 115 participants in attendance. Additionally, thank you to Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, who provided instrumental support in the great success that was the Gunnedah BNSW & IBA camp. BNSW would also like to thank Uniting for allowing BNSW to take part in their successful 3×3 tournament and Solid Mob, who organised the great ‘Beats, Basketball & BBQ’ events in Murwillumbah, Goonellabah/Lismore and Grafton.
In partnership with Indigenous Basketball Australia, the 14’s Indigenous Community Basketball League (ICBL) was hosted in Dubbo with champion teams being Millewa for the boys and Millewa/Galari for the girls. From this tournament, two NSW teams were selected and their coaches and managers travelled to the Gold Coast to take part in the National Indigenous Basketball Tournament. Funded by the Mills Foundation, this five day event saw athletes from seven States and Territories play and take part in cultural and capacity-building sessions. NSW Boys finished 5th and the Girls team brought home the silver medal. Tully Pikcering from the Dubbo Rams was named in the Girls All-Star 5 team.
The Legacy Programs road trip could be stopping in at a town near you soon – keep an eye out as activations begin to get announced for the Term 2 School Holidays.
If you have any questions about I AM A GIRL, please contact Amy Nolan our Community Growth Programs Administrator at [email protected] or call 8765 8555.
If you have any questions about BNSW & IBA basketball camps, please contact Darren Allie our ICALD Programs Manager at [email protected] or call 8765 8555.
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