2018 BNSW ANNUAL AWARDS | PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

Written by Jaylee Ismay
19 November, 2018

Basketball New South Wales held their annual awards on the 18th of November, 2018 at Qudos Bank Arena during the WNBL & NBL double header featuring the Sydney Uni Flames & Sydney Kings. BNSW would like to congratulate all nominees and award recipients on their achievements and for joining us to celebrate.

Player of the Year Awards:

Sydney Uni Flames – Karen Dalton Metro Junior Female (Under 20 Years)

We would like to congratulate Shyla Heal from the Sutherland Sharks on winning the Karen Dalton Award for 2018.

Shyla is an outstanding young basketball player that has shown through hard work, love for the game and competitive nature, anything is possible. Earlier in the year, Shyla represented NSW Metro at the U18 Australian Junior Championship.

After a great performance, Shyla secured a spot with the U17 Australian Women’s team, the Sapphires, where they won the Bronze Medal at the U17 World Championship which resulted in Shyla being selected in the tournament All Star 5. Shyla also led the Sutherland Championship Women team to the Spalding Waratah Championship Grand Final.

Lastly, after a successful year, Shyla signed a WNBL contract with Perth Lynx.

 

Sydney Kings – Mathew Neilson Metro Junior (Under 20 years)

We would like to give a big congratulations to Biwali Bayles from The City of Sydney Basketball Association for being awarded the Mathew Neilson awards

Biwali is an exceptional and hard-working individual that always strives for perfection when training and playing for his representative team or representing his state. This year has been a very busy and rewarding year for Biwali. Attending numerous Australian Development Camps and the prestigious NBA Prospects Camp. He was also the MVP for the U18 Sydney Comets Men’s team that finished 1st in both the Metro League and State Champs.

Earlier in the year, he was selected to represent the NSW U18 Metro Men at the 2018 U18 Australian Junior Championships. After a successful Nationals Biwali was one of four Australian athletes to attend the prestigious NIKE All Asia Basketball Camp. After such a successful year in Basketball Biwali was also presented with a National Performance Program Scholarship that provides specialised individual training for potential future Boomers and Opals.

 

Gordon McLeod NSW Country Junior Male (Under 20 years)

We would like to congratulate Will Cranston-Lown from the Bathurst Basketball Association on winning the Gordon McLeod Award for 2018.

Will is a dedicated athlete who strives for constant improvement. His hard-working approach has resulted in a very successful year for Will, representing both his state & Country this year. 

BASKETBALL NSW: 2018 Annual Awards. November 18, 2018. Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Photo: Narelle Spangher, Basketball NSW

Will is a Bathurst junior and represented Bathurst in the YLM 2 division and averaged 24.5 pts per game and was a key go to player offensively for the Goldminers.

Will represented NSW at the U20 Australian Junior Championships in Gosford in February as a bottom age athlete, at which he was then selected in the Australian U18 Asia Cup squad. Will was also selected to represent NSW at the National Schoolboys Tournament in Darwin, where he played an integral part of the success of the team, claiming a gold medal.

 

Lauren Jackson NSW Country Junior Female (Under 20 years)

We would like to congratulate Isabel Palmer from the Newcastle Basketball Association on winning the Gordon McLeod Award for 2018.

Isabel is a determined & proud individual whose achievements have reflected her hard work & dedication to her basketball. Isabel is a fantastic role model to all NSW female athletes and a credit to Newcastle Basketball, BNSW & the Centre of Excellence.  We are extremely proud to have her represent us with such honour & pride.

Isy represented NSW Country at the U18 Australian Junior Championships in Geelong in April, where she led the team to a 4th place finish. Following the tournament Isy co – captained (with fellow NSW teammate Shyla Heal), the Australian Sapphires U17 Women’s team to a Bronze Medal at the U17 World Championships.

She then went onto be selected for the Australian U18 Asia Cup team where they won Bronze & qualified for the U19 World Championships in 2019. Isy is also a current Centre of Excellence Scholarship holder & played SEABL this year.

 

 

On behalf of Basketball NSW, congratulations to all our Player of the Year recipients.

CLICK HERE for Photo Gallery (Credit Narelle Spangher)