Anonymous
Years ago

National Junior Champs - Is change needed?

For most people who have attended a Nationals the battle is regularly for 2nd. The Vics (normally Vic Metro) having 1st place locked up.

This is further supported by performances at Junior Tournaments such as Eltham Australia Day, Norwood Easter, and National Junior Classics in June.

Last week the ASC produced figures showing basketball was now the biggest sport in Victoria in regards to registered players.

The AFL also has a dominance by Victoria but handle their Junior Tournament differently to basketball.

While basketball doesn't need to go to the extreme of a two-tier competition as it is actually played nationally maybe basketball could learn a lesson from AFL.

While SA and WA are known footy strongholds the AFL still do not break up these states as Metro and Country teams but rather as acutal state teams.

Is there a lesson here to learn for basketball? Should BA make a change to the structure of Junior Nationals and return SA and WA to state teams and not Metro/Country teams?

NSW may be big enough participation wise to remain Country/Meto.

Queensland while not having huge numbers has a pretty even participation from North Queensland all the way south of Brisbane and a single side may be too difficult to manage.

Combining SA Metro and Country would produce a much deeper team that would compete with the Vics at all levels of junior basketball. On the other side it also reduces the opportunities to play at this level.

In my opinion it certainly would make every national a much closer and open contest.

Topic #23253 | Report this topic

Vic parent
Years ago

Well written and obviously has merit.There will be those that say it prevents opportunitys for others but i disagree and think that at a national championship it makes a lot more sense

Reply #281112 | Report this post

nkl
Years ago

I agree it will make SA stronger, but at what disadvantage to country kids, how will they train as a squad and how will that impact on selection. SA country & metro offers more opportunities for SA kids and exposure to many that would not otherwise be fortunate enough to experience at national level. Weight of numbers is always going to be against us and in this case winning isnt the priority.

Reply #281121 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

There's a WA Country kid (*Richardson) in the Under 17 National Junior team - selected (largely I'm assuming) on his performance at this years Under 18 Nationals.

Would he have benfitted from playing with the WA Metro side?

Would Basketball WA have flown him in to Perth from wherever in country WA for the try-out process and every training session in the months leading up to the tournament?

As always, in this sport and at that level, you are talking about government funding.......and not a lot of it. Determining how to wisely spend the few dollars you have is just as important as lobbying for more.

Reply #281134 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Being an WA Country player or WA Metro player wouldn't change the demand on him regarding trainings/transport. They would have had to fly Country players from all over WA to one central point for team trials, trainings etc as well.

Combining Metro and Country wouldn't change that.

The SA Country team regularly train in Adelaide in the lead up to a Nationals, the same city as the Metro team so transport wouldn't change. Here in SA most Country State players play in the Adelaide based district competition anyway so would be in Adelaide on a lot of weekends.

Reply #281155 | Report this post

Sector 7G
Years ago

Mmmmmm. Not convinced.
I think SA Country and SA Metro are "culturaly" very different in their playing style and to split them would be to stiffle one or the other (most likely Country).

While the merger works OK at U20 level when any country kids are probably playing in the city by that time anyway, they have had a chance to develop their game more and this is a more appropriate course of action.

Just because they (Vic Metro) MOSTLY win doesn't mean they'll ALWAYS win. For mine, keep SA Metro and Country seperate. Its a great development opportunity for kids and they can only benefit from the experience.

SA teams HAVE been successful at Classics, Nat Clubs etc, and frequently medal and sometimes win these comps.

Keep the bar high and keep giving kids the opportunity to compete at the top level against the best.

Reply #281158 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

all WA country training sessions are held in perth anyway. richardson is from bunbury which is just over an hour and a half from perth, but even with the majority of the team from bunbury (i think around 9 out of the ten players) training is still held in perth 90% of the time

Reply #281163 | Report this post

MGBrick
Years ago

all WA country training sessions are held in perth anyway. richardson is from bunbury which is just over an hour and a half from perth, but even with the majority of the team from bunbury (i think around 9 out of the ten players) training is still held in perth 90% of the time

Reply #281164 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

I think if you looked at SA Country teams the bulk of the players would be playing in the District comp already, so training would not be that big an issue.

I like the idea of a true State team, which is the best palyers in the state. You could still have a Country team for players that miss out on the State team to give the country kids a go

Reply #281168 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

When I played football I played for the state; not metro, not country but the entire state. When my child starting playing basketball I found out that you don't represent your state but a part of it. I don't understand why 2 half state teams and why the country and metro split. Along the lines of this stupidity perhaps next time we can field a Northern South Australia team and a Southern South Australia team or if we are really creative a Western South Australian team and an Eastern South Australian team. Just draw a line north/south through the middle of Victoria square and if you live on the left of that you are Western and vice versa. Sounds stupid!!! Exactly, such as representing part of a state

Reply #281178 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

and further to my note above - what is metro. I got booked for doing 60 km through the middle of Nairne. I was told the 50kmh applies as it is considered a metropolitan area!!!

Reply #281180 | Report this post

Ariel 30
Years ago

They do, its called U20s.

Reply #281186 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

so the state is different when you make U20's

Reply #281202 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Victoria would still win any way. Jan Stirling once took a clinic at Albury and happen to mention to all that the Gold medal World Championship team she coached had 10 of the 12 players originating from Country Australia.

Reply #281240 | Report this post

Hoops

National Junior Champs - Is change needed?

Recent Posts