Basketball Victoria has been well represented during January with athletes, coaches, officials and support staff participating in three tournaments across NSW and Victoria. One in Sydney (The East Coast Challenge) another in Albury (The Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup) and the Southern Cross Challenge – hosted by Basketball Victoria in Boronia.
The East Coast Challenge is a development tournament and is hosted by Basketball NSW, with this year's event held in Penrith. The round robin tournament was originally co-created by Basketball Victoria and Basketball NSW to give our U16 and U18 state teams the opportunity to play in a tournament and represent their state. Due to the success of the event, South Australia and the ACT also entered teams.
The Victorian teams are chosen from our State Development Program squads and have proven that hard work and dedication pays off. Congratulations to all the players, coaches and supporters who were involved in this year’s event.
To view the photo gallery of ECC click here
The Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup (ACJBC) or ‘Country Cup’ to most people, gives our country athletes the opportunity to play in a tournament style event against State teams from regional Australia and also New Zealand. The Albury tournament attracts over 700 athletes and is an important event to the community.
Basketball Victoria also had several Victorian referees who received medal games for their great work during the week.
To view the photo gallery of ACJBC click here
Finally it was our turn to host the Southern Cross Challenge (SCC) which ran from January 20-23. The SCC is designed to offer development opportunities in a high-performance tournament setting for Under 14 and Under 15 players, as well as coaches, referees and score table officials. State teams from South Australia, NSW, ACT, Tasmania and Western Australia were all in attendance over the weekend
Although a development tournament, teams still competed extra hard to finish at the top of their pool to win a perpetual trophy in honour of four of our successful Basketball Victoria alumni:
- Rachel Jarry
- Matthew Dellavedova
- Jenna O’Hea
- David Andersen
The event was played in the true spirit of the game, and it gave young athletes the chance to experience a nationally recognised event.
Grant Wallace, Basketball Victoria’s General Manager for High Performance, said,” The SCC is a great opportunity for our younger athletes starting out in the State Development Program to develop their skills in a competitive setting, whilst also giving coaches the chance to learn in a highly competitive setting.”
To view the photo gallery of the SCC click here
All the Victorian athletes, coaches and officials who participated across the three events should be proud of how they competed and supported each other.
