While NAIDOC Week celebrations took place right across the state, Basketball NSW was proud to host its own NAIDOC events in line with this year’s theme of ‘Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!’ with five basketball 3×3 basketball carnivals for local indigenous youth.
NAIDOC Week (2rd-10th July) is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living culture on earth.
The five carnivals were hosted at Wagga Wagga, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Wollogong and Alexandria during the July school holidays. With over 1000 local participants joining on the events with plenty of action on the courts with various 3×3 tournaments and shoot-out competitions married with giveaways and prizes by local sponsors – fun was had by all.
Basketball NSW, ICALD Manager Darren Allie said he was thrilled to help facilitate the carnivals and use sport as the medium to bring everyone together.
“Events like this give everyone the opportunity to belong, have some fun, and learn more about the Indigenous culture and beliefs. We were blown away by the support of the many local community groups that also jumped on board to help grow the carnivals,” said Allie.
“There are a number of ways both businesses and individuals can get in involved in NAIDOC celebrations and one of them is to support and create a safe environment for youth to flourish and build knowledge, trust and understanding of our respective cultures so the idea of hosting 3×3 Basketball Carnivals was born!”
“It’s great to have basketball as the premise to come together and appreciate the importance of NAIDOC Week, it is something Basketball NSW is very passionate about and I’m proud to be a part of it as I am sure many of our supporting associations are as well.”
Basketball NSW would like to extend their thanks to the following groups, organisations and individuals that assisted in running these fantastic days to celebrate NAIDOC week for players and families from Under 12’s to Opens.
Thank you to the Hon Kevin Hogan MP, Indigenous Basketball Australia, Transport NSW, Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd, Redfern Youth Connect, Luke Penrith Arts & Designs, PCYC Marrickville, Dinawan’s Connection and Marrambidya Yurali , Throwback Store, Mawang Gaway, Rekindling The Spirit, Aunty Cheryl, Uncle Barry Hoskins, Troy Robinson, Gloria Mercy’s dance group, Heather Duncan, Layne Brown, NSW police and Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers, local media news outlets, City of Sydney Comets Basketball Association, Lismore Basketball Association, Wagga Basketball Association, Illawarra Basketball Association, referees, coaches, and the many individuals that volunteered their time.