Following a huge start to 2023 basketball season, Basketball NSW is pleased to report on the success of the various January High Performance Development Tournaments that included Country & Metro athletes over the past few weeks.
Traditionally, the month of January has always played an instrumental role in BNSW’s Development and High-Performance Pathways. BNSW was keen to continue to offer opportunities for athletes, coaches and officials through four key tournaments.
The first event of the year saw our U15 & U17 Country & Metro athletes battle it out at the Hills Basketball Stadium for the “BNSW Shootout”. The Shootout was targeted at participants identified as potential participants for the following years ACJBC and ECC (and U16 and U18 State team programs). The round robin tournament consisted of a 3×3 tournament as well as the traditional 5×5 competition. Over 160 athletes, 32 coaches and 14 officials participated in the three day event.
Second on the calendar was the East Coast Challenge (ECC) held at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre. The ECC involved eight NSW Metropolitan teams (two U16 Boys’ & Girls’ teams and two U18 Boys’ & Girls’ teams) who played against other Metropolitan teams from Victoria, South Australia and the ACT. The tournament served as a unique development opportunity as it exposed athletes to players from other States and was a key part of the State team selection process for the U18 age group. The event included 80 athletes, 16 coaches & 30 officials which all benefited from learning opportunities from our potential head state coaches.
After a long two year hiatus due to Covid-19, the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup (ACJBC) was back, hosted in Albury-Wodogna. A staple on the country basketball calendar, Basketball NSW sent twelve teams consisting of 120 athletes to compete in the following age groups: U14’s, U16’s and U18’s. The NSW talent was also on show with 13 officials and referee coaches joining in on the week long event with many referees developing their skillset during the tournament.
To round out the month, the Southern Cross Challenge hosted by Basketball Victoria in Melbourne saw six NSW teams (country & metro) in the U14 & U15 age groups compete in a round robin format that exposed them to a semi-national tournament that gives elite junior players the opportunity to compete against development squads from other States in Australia. This Tournament also allowed coaches and athletes to gain experience in high-level tournament play, preparing them for potential involvement in State Teams in the future.
Basketball NSW, General Manager of Coaching and Development, Brett Coxsedge was excited to see so many opportunities on the cards for athlete and coach development over the past month.
“It was great to see the return of all our traditional basketball tournaments and tours in January. All of the events provided our Country and Metro players with opportunities to showcase their skills and talents against players from within NSW and from interstate,” said Coxsedge.
“Our coaches and managers also gained valuable experience in plying their trades. Overall, it was a fantastic month and a great way to start the 2023 basketball calendar.”
Basketball NSW, Head of Technical Officials, Steve Clark added he was pleased to see such a large array of referees appointed to the various tournaments.
“It was wonderful to have so many young official join in these events to assist in their development and work their way through the officials pathway. Together with the referee coaches, our officials we have had a great start to 2023,” said Clark.
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Statistics for the month of January:
440- athletes
44 – teams
130 – coaches/managers
57- referees
12- referee coaches