Debra Flett is airborne and looking for a goalscoring opportunity for her Thunderbolts. 310312RCF10
WINNING two major awards from Basketball NSW has buoyed the Tamworth Basketball Association as it prepares for on-court onslaughts in a range of competitions, home and abroad.
The wins by Peel and Oxley girl’ and boys’ Under 15 sides in State CHS Under 15 Knockout Inter Regional Finals in the last week has also added to the excitement and enthusiasm running through the TBA ranks at the moment.
Peel High beat Orange in the Tamworth Sports Dome last week to earn its State CHS Under 15 Knockout playoff berth while Oxley High boys’ team joined them at Terrigal by going to Orange and beating Orange High 70-45 on Monday morning.
Oxley’s coach is Peter McDonald.
He is also the TBA’s administration manager and has an enormous job making sure all the junior and senior competitions run smoothly at the Tamworth Sports Dome.
Some 919 people are registered to play in the various senior and junior competitions, McDonald said.
“It keeps me busy,” he laughed ruefully.
“Winning those two awards though is great recognition for everybody involved.
“It’s a bit of recognition for all those volunteers who helped us.”
The TBA had 80 volunteers work at the recent Australian Under 16 Basketball
Championships.
“It all went off pretty well,” McDonald said.
Shane Gaffney is the TBA president and he was thrilled with the two Basketball NSW gongs.
“It’s been a pretty big year for us,” Gaffney said.
“To win both awards was great.
“To get two accolades like that is down to a lot of hard work by a lot of people.
“It’s been a real team effort by everyone involved with the TBA.”
Receiving the Champion Association for Members Under 1000 was good enough, Gaffney said.
“But to get the Special Award was brilliant for us.
“That was mainly because of the State Cup and then the National Under 16s we held.
Basketball NSW’s Michelle Smith spelled out the Special Award reasoning.
“This award has been given to an association that has been a staunch supporter of basketball both within NSW and particularly in the country,” Smith said.
“They were rewarded for many years of struggle in getting the local council to build them some new courts and it was fitting that the last representative game of basketball played in the old venue was a game involving juniors, the future of our game.
“They accepted the challenge that confronted them when a joint application was submitted to host the 2012 Basketball Australia’s Under 16 National Championships.
“This special award recognises the hard work that is required by an association to run a national championships, and ensure its success.”
While the TBA celebrated the efforts of Oxley and Peel in their State CHS KOs, they also have a number of junior players heading off on tours with NSW Country sides in January, including Riley Murphy (U14 Boys), Whitney Martin, Hannah Page (U15 Girls), Jayden Gimbergh, Izac Laylor (U15 Boys), Amelia Dadd (U15 Girls), Taylor Skelton (U18 Girls), Rhys Chillingworth (U18 Boys).
Manilla schoolgirl Taylor Skelton has also been selected for the National Intensive Training Program for 2013 while a number of Under 12 players will attend the Greater Murray Jamboree for Under 12s.
That includes Josie Chick, Miah O’Sullivan, Grace Salter, Serena Waters, Jess Watt, Cooper Kelly, Brock McMahon and Nathaniel McGrath.