Anonymous
Years ago

NT not to send a girls team to U/18 Nationals

BNT STATEMENT ON 2014 U18 AJC GIRLS TEAM


Due to an insufficient pool of U18 female athletes, and in addition no head coach or assistant coach applications for the U18 girls team received, Basketball Northern Territory will not be sending an U18 girls team the 2014 Australian Junior Championship to be held in Canberra, April 10-17.

Basketball Northern Territory is committed to providing athletes with an opportunity to achieve their potential and as a result BNT will be exploring what alternative development opportunities there may be available for the U18 girls age group (2014).


Very disappointing, but somewhat not surprising. How many teams play at the championships now? Will 1 pool have more games than the other?

Topic #33762 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Years ago

Have they checked with Tasmania? They appear to have a pool of super talented girls willing to re-locate to play in state teams.

Reply #458569 | Report this post


Ashke  
Years ago

Sad to hear really, but after spending a number of years up there it is not surprising at all. Hopefully it does not flow on to other age groups!

Reply #458614 | Report this post


Jack Toft  
Years ago

NT is a funny "state" based on its size and population spread. The population is about 230,000 with 160,000 of them living in Darwin/Palmerston and the rest spread thinly all around the place! There's probably a total of 2,000 girls living in NT who would be in that age group. In a place like Vic, they would have 75,000 girls in that same age group in Melbourne.

I was recently talking to a father of a girl I used to coach who moved there for work and he told me that his daughter (who would qualify for U18) stopped playing basketball because they played on open courts in the heat whereas netball was played indoors in air conditioned stadiums - she's now playing netball.

Can anyone confirm if they play on outside courts?

While they haven't set the world alight, I think its always good to get representation from all states/territories at nationals.

Reply #458646 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Depends where she was...

Alice Springs and Darwin definitely have gyms.

Reply #458648 | Report this post


Wilson Sting  
Years ago

Darwin has a great indoor facility where they played preseason nbl tournaments a few years back.

Reply #458653 | Report this post


Jack Toft  
Years ago

The family moved to Darwin.

Reply #458656 | Report this post


Ashke  
Years ago

Jack, i lived in Darwin for 3 years and played up there the entire time and never once played outdoors. Had some "interesting" games i might add, but all indoors.

Reply #458667 | Report this post


Jack Toft  
Years ago

Ashke, I would have expected the games to be played indoors. The federal government is keen to raise the population and provide infrastructure to keep them happy. That's why I was after someone to confirm whether Darwin basketball is played indoors, or outdoors. (I am visualising asphalt courts the Ceduna Basketball Association would be proud of)

Reply #458669 | Report this post


Ashke  
Years ago

Yeah i thought their facilities were great, never really adapted to the heat but the courts were fine. Really unique cultural diversity up there, athleticism is of the plenty but commitment..... not so much (debate for another time).

The government has spent some solid cash on their hockey, soccer, rugby, afl and basketball facilities, i would be interested to see exactly how much is spent up there vs other states/territories on facilities.

High Performance Coach would be in a damn tough spot also, what do you do with your small handful of good players? Keep them and possibly hold their overall development back, or wish them well and move them on to another state to be exposed to higher levels of competition and training?

I personally cannot ever see basketball excelling up in the top end, though i wish it was possible, i think that is simply dreaming. All that being said, the U16 girls have had a few wins over the last couple of years @ Nationals, and finished higher than ACT if i remember correctly? (i stand to be corrected).

Interesting positon they are in, i think for basketballs sake they need to be at Nationals competing.

Reply #458679 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Well there's one win the SA Country girls won't get!

Reply #458706 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.
Serio: Tourism photography and videography

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 7:48 pm, Thu 28 Mar 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754