FIBA Oceania Bulletin March 2010 Secretary General’s Report v Steve Smith Lastly, and we accept that this is most likely to be a very rough estimate, how many people be‐ The FIBA Oceania staff have sides those listed in any of the above, partici‐ spent a lot of time recently pate regularly in basketball as a recreational discussing what we do, activities – play pickup games, scrimmages, how we work and what regularly go to a basketball court just to shoot should be our goals for the future. Myself and the around. Development Manager have been discussing what should be our targets for 2010 for each individual Having this kind of information will let us know federation, and we have sought some input for how popular our sport is and give us some Developing and ‘baseline data’ which we can use in the future, promoting basketball our decision making from your federation, from the Zone Development Officer and from the Spe‐ to measure if we are making any progress in across the Pacific increasing the popularity of basketball – which cial Projects Manager. That project is still a ‘work must be one of our goals. I hope you’ll give us in progress’ so final decisions are not able to be announced just yet, however two across‐the‐ some support for this initiative which will pro‐ board priorities for 2010 are; vide you, as well as us, with useful information. vContinue our push for federations to make greater use of FIBA Organizer – particularly the Who will host our 2012 Youth Tournament? Î Ryan Burns reports competition management and database manage‐ Every two years, FIBA Oceania stages our Youth ment aspects of it, without diminishing the use of Tournament for 8 men’s and 8 women’s teams Î McLeod rewarded the website communication function. from among our 21 member federations. Since its inception in 1997 it has been played in Fiji, v ÎFiji on fire Improve our knowledge about the strength of New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tonga, Australia, New the game by collecting information about how Zealand and Guam. This year the event returns ÎFIBA 33 in Vanuatu many people actually play our game across the to New Caledonia as a much stronger and devel‐ Pacific and under what circumstances. oped tournament than when it was first played Î Palau do boot camp It was quite surprising to us a couple of years ago, there more than 12 years ago. to learn that until we started the exercise, there Î NBDO’s in action was no information about what facilities were Where will the event be played in 2012? FIBA Oceania has, during the month of February in‐ Î News from the zone available to play our sport in each of your coun‐ tries, where the courts were and what was their vited federations to submit a tender to host this event, with bids closing at the end of April. Our ÎNZ restructures condition. Thanks to the work of our energetic host must be a member basketball federation, ZDO’s and some plotting and compilation work by although there is provision for the federation to Î NZ Life membership the Zone Development Manager we now have, supervise the event which could be conducted and you now have, this information. But we still don’t have participation information. I ask you to by a member association, event company etc. assist us during 2010 to collect this information. The host country will gain automatic entry to the Regan from our office will be contacting each fed‐ tournament along with 7 other teams in both eration but we would like to know; the men’s and women’s division. The host is P.O. Box 174, Toormina responsible for all financial aspects of hosting vHow many people take part in Federation or‐ NSW, Australia 2452 the tournament but will be provided with a sub‐ ganised activities each year (men, women, boys, stantial subsidy by FIBA Oceania to assist them Ph +61 2 6658 6110 girls)? meet the costs of accommodation and meals for Fax +61 2 6658 6114 the participating countries. vHow many (additional) people play on a regular Email: basis in competitions organised by your member If your federation has not received a copy of the [email protected] associations (men, women, boys, girls)? bid documents, please contact Judy Smith v Website: How many people play regularly in competi‐ ([email protected]) or go to our website www.fibaoceania.com tions which sit outside your federation (men, and download the documents from the women, boys, girls)? Some examples of these “Education – Administration” button. competitions might be competitions organised by schools, churches, the Filipino community – in fact We have set the closing date early to allow us to by anyone who is not a member of your federa‐ announce the 2012 host when we meet in New tion. Caledonia later this year. We welcome stories from across the zone for the Bulletin. If you have some news from your club, school, association or federation, email it, and a photograph to Judy Smith at [email protected] The Oceania Bulletin is an official publication of FIBA OCEANIA and is circulated throughout Oceania, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. To be added to the email distribution list, send your address to [email protected] Visit our website at www.fibaoceania.com for previous editions. Page 2 FIBA Oceania Bulletin, March 2010 Welcome to 2010 Welcome to 2010 from ZDO Ryan Gordie McLeod Wins Australian NBL Coach of Burns: the Year: A big hello to everyone in the Pacific. Many players and coaches across the Pacific It’s 2010 and I’m looking forward to will be delighted to read that Gordie McLeod visiting your country this year. In has won the Australian NBL Coach of the Year January I was given the opportunity Award. Gordie has been a regular participant to attend the Australian Junior Coun‐ at the FIBA Oceania Youth Tournaments and All try Cup in Albury, and also the Austra‐ Star training camps. After helping the undermanned Wollongong lian Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Can‐ Hawks get to an NBL Grand Final in his first year with the club, berra. Both were fantastic professional development opportuni‐ Gordie won the Lindsay Gaze Trophy as Coach of the Year by ties, allowing me to work with some of the most knowledgeable earning 59 votes to finish ahead of Perth coach Rob Beveridge and people in Australian basketball, who lead the Oceania Zone. Townsville’s Trevor Gleeson. At the Country Cup, an annual tournament for junior State teams McLeod had his Hawks flying early in the season, winning five of in the U18, U16 & U14 age groups, I worked in the referees pro‐ their first six games. The Hawks ended the regular season with a gram. This provided me with the opportunity to work with referee 16‐12 record. This meant that the team whom many predicted managers and coaches from throughout Australia. Teams at the would finish last, finished second on the NBL ladder at the end of tournament attended from Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, the regular season. New South Wales, South Australia and New Zealand and also had referee representatives from each state. The number of officials Under McLeod, the Hawks formed a chemistry which could be was 60 referees, 20 referee coaches and 5 referee administrators seen both on and off the court. They played team basketball (a total of 85). I spent 3 days with the referee officials and their throughout the season, averaging 16.3 assists per game. McLeod coaches with the most rewarding day being the referee camp on did it tough however, with import Tywain McKee going down in‐ 17th January. The camp provided intense training for all referees. jured mid season. McLeod brought in former Sydney King Luke Martin to fill the role and lost nothing in doing so. Some of the The FIBA philosophy of ‘feel for the game’ was strongly empha‐ younger Hawks in Rhys Martin and Tim Coenraad blossomed un‐ sized and areas of officiating covered included preventative offici‐ der the guidance of McLeod. With McLeod at the helm, the Hawks ating, game management, areas 5/6, contact on the dribbler and became a defensive force this season limiting their opponents to pre‐game talk. It was also pleasing to see at this camp how 81 points per game on 44% shooting coaches and referees were working together by discussing game tactics. This allowed referees to gain a better understanding of Vanuatu Secure Grant for FIBA 33 preparation: what the coaches were trying to do and also gave the coaches an Vanuatu Basketball Federation has received from the Vanuatu understanding of the rules of the game. Following this session I NOC (Vasanoc) a cheque for US$34,787.00, representing an ad‐ worked closely with the referee coaches and evaluators in game vanced payment of 75% of the budget allocated for the prepara‐ situations the following day. This was a very rewarding experience. tion of their 3‐on‐3 girls team who have been awarded a place in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August. From Tuesday 19th – Saturday 23rd January I attended the Austra‐ lian Development Camp (ADC) at the AIS. This camp is the first The presentation was made on Friday 19th March by the Presi‐ preparation stage for both the U/20 Men & Women, and U/23 dent of Vasanoc, Antoine Boudier, to the Vice President of Vanu‐ Wheelchair National Teams for their World Championships in 2012. atu Basketball, Jack Himford.