ANNUAL REPORT 2007 Annual Report 2007 Photos courtesy of Photosport and ImageSport NZ Basketball New Zealand Messages 2 President CEO National Teams and Competitions 6 Tall Blacks Tall Ferns Emerging Tall Blacks & National Junior Teams National Basketball League (NBL) Women’s Basketball League (WBL) Conference Basketball League (CBL) National Age Group Community Basketball and Participation 20 Korus Coach and Player Development Association Development Officials Communications & Marketing 22 Sponsors Website FIBA Organiser Tall Fern and Tall Black Qualification Events, Breakers and Sirens Introducing Our Basketball New Zealand Team 24 2007 Honours 26 2008 Preview 28 2 from our president Crossroads, what Crossroads? that of the greater basketball community. 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, The challenges in 2007 for our sport were It was with regret that the board decided to the Tall Blacks’ Ramsay Shield wins over not only on the court, but in the boardroom, disestablish the Field Development Officers Australia in 2001 and 2006, and a continual as we grappled with the decline in funds and roles mid year. Their work over three years improvement in world rankings. the need to rationalise the structure of the had been instrumental in the enhanced The Tall Ferns have now gained a spot at the organisation, while still committing to our capability of many of our associations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the Tall Blacks, strategic plan. support of the Scottwood Trust in funding while losing their Oceania qualification There was much public comment about these roles during that period was critical to series, enjoyed their seventh ever win BBNZ finances, our relationship with the success of the programme. over Australia and only their second on SPARC and our ability to continue funding There is a lot to be proud of at BBNZ, with Australian soil, all achievements we should the development of the game, mostly gossip increased participation in the sport at every be immensely proud of. that produced a very unbalanced and level, increasing spectator viewership and These successes provide us with a negative view of our organisation. a very committed base of loyal supporters, significant platform on which to build It is certainly true that we have had to make many of whom continue to unselfishly give interest in our sport, and to increase the some tough decisions to ensure the financial up their time to support the game we all number of participants and consumers viability of the organisation. BBNZ is heavily love. That basketball public has supported across the sport. dependent on SPARC funding, as is almost the game through thick and thin, and in On behalf of the board, I would like to every other national sporting organisation in 2007 provided the board with the support we acknowledge the tremendous support New Zealand. needed to work through the many difficult from departing SPARC CEO Nick Hill, tasks before us. particularly over the past four months, Without the support of SPARC, BBNZ and To quote Ernest Shackleton, the survivor of and the many friends in the basketball many other NSOs could not achieve even the epic journey of the Endurance into community, whose efforts over the past six a fraction of their annual programmes. As a Antarctica… years have helped Basketball New Zealand result, there was and will always be regular scale heights that no one ever imagined dialogue with SPARC about financial and “Difficulties are just things to overcome, possible. sporting issues relevant to the sport of after all.” basketball, including BBNZ’s international To all the basketball family, thank you. BBNZ now has a history of success in programme. international competition. In a sport played Addressing such difficulties is the role of by 213 countries, the past six years have the BBNZ board and, indeed, the role of produced many notable performances, boards of many, if not most, NSO’s. Not one including silver medals at the 2006 member of the BBNZ board accepted the Commonwealth Games for both Tall Blacks Barbara Wheadon job thinking their task would be easy, but and Tall Ferns, the Tall Blacks’ fourth placing BBNZ President BASKETBALL NEW ZEALAND MESSAGES each of us feels passionately about the sport at the 2002 FIBA World Championships, of basketball. We are also concerned about the Tall Blacks’ and Tall Ferns’ consecutive player welfare, the welfare of our staff and attendance with improved placings at the 4 Introducing our new ceo Thank you to all the staff, supporters, volunteers and participants who have made me so welcome to this office. After a long involvement as a player, coach, administrator and referee it is a totally new challenge to step into such a pivotal role working directly with all aspects of basketball. This sport has a number of unique characteristics…it is a true entertainment spectacle that ‘involves’ everybody at the game. It excites and elevates! It attracts people from all corners of society and it encourages excellence! This to me encapsulates the challenges ahead for BBNZ, to satisfy and develop the sport for all its varied stakeholders. Like all sports in New Zealand Basketball has faced its share of challenges and thanks to the efforts of its dedicated people now looks forward with some confidence to the challenges ahead. 2008 looks like being a busy and challenging year with the Olympic campaign for our Tall Ferns, Olympic qualification for our Tall Blacks, our growing junior programmes, our many leagues and tournaments and the ongoing commitment to developing the many pathways for our participants. Basketball is a great sport and we should all be proud of our involvement in this truly global phenomenon. BASKETBALL NEW ZEALAND MESSAGES Dale Stephens 6 7 new zealand tall blacks Dominion Finance Tall Blacks Venezuela in NZ Half of Basketball New Zealand’s core mission is to “Create Winning Beat Venezuela 99–73 in Napier Teams” (BBNZ Strategic Plan 2007–2010). This mission is based Beat Venezuela 95–78 in Wellington on the sport’s performances over the past six years, during which Lost to Venezuela 81–91 in Wellington basketball has arguably been one of New Zealand’s best performers in a truly international sport. Boris Stankovic Cup, China Late in 2006, Nenad Vucinic was appointed coach for what we all knew would be a tough assignment — qualification for the Beijing Lost to Angola 55–67 in Gaungzhou Olympics. A 14-game build-up included victories over European Lost to NBDL Ambassadors 84–87 in Guangzhou powers Slovenia — their only loss on their way to winning the Beat Slovenia 74–72 in Macau Stankovic Cup in China — and Croatia on their home court. Lost to China 63–93 in Macau Although the Tall Blacks had little answer to the Australian Boomers Beat Venezuela 76–73 in Macau in the first two games of the Oceania Championships, a morale- boosting win in Brisbane provided some indication of their abilities and another success over their archrivals to cherish. NZ in Europe Having lost their chance to qualify directly through Oceania, the Lost to Belarus 74–77 in Riga Tall Blacks now must gain a top-three placing at the World Olympic Lost to Lithuania 81–94 in Riga Qualification Tournament to be held in Athens, July 14–20, 2008. Lost to Latvia 74–82 in Riga Lost to Finland 79–85 in Rijeka Beat Croatia 79–77 in Crikvenica Lost to Great Britain 75–82 in Delnice FIBA Oceania Championships, Australia Lost to Australia 67–79 in Melbourne Lost to Australia 67–93 in Sydney Beat Australia 67–58 in Brisbane NATIONAL TEAMS AND COMPETITIONS Left to right: Carl Dickel (Assistant Coach), Darron Larsen (Video Technician), Steve Fitchett (Manager), Paora Winitana (Hawks), Mika Vukona (Nelson), Lindsay Tait (Auckland), Casey Frank (Auckland), Paul Henare (Hawks), Tony Rampton, Mark Dickel, Dillon Boucher (Auckland), Kirk Penney, Pero Cameron (Waikato), Phill Jones, Craig Bradshaw, Nenad Vucinic (Coach), Matt Wenham (Physiotherapist), Claire Dallison (Trainer). Absent: Daryl Cartwright (Harbour), Mike Fitchett (Nelson) 8 new zealand tall ferns The Tall Ferns continue to raise the profile of women’s basketball NZ in Japan in New Zealand, developing a programme aimed at performing Lost to Japan 52–68 in Tokyo successfully at the Beijing Olympics. In addition, BBNZ and Canterbury Basketball have ensured the Tall Fern programme will be significantly NZ in China enhanced over the summer of 2007/2008 with the majority of the team playing for the Christchurch Sirens in the Australian Women’s National Lost to China 46–88 in Chengdou Basketball League. Lost to Cuba 56–64 in Chengdou The Sirens franchise fulfils several immediate needs in the women’s Beat Argentina 57–55 in Chengdou game, providing a valuable step in the career pathway, while also Lost to China 49–78 in Shanghai exposing our top players to a consistently high level of competition week after week. William Jones Cup, Taiwan The Tall Ferns’ focus during 2007 was to demonstrate their capability to the NZ Olympic Committee. The NZOC selectors had designed their Beat Taiwan White 51–50 criteria to ensure only athletes and teams that were capable of credible Lost to Australia 52–99 performances would be sent to Beijing. For team sports, this means Beat Japan Universities 99–71 they have the ability to move beyond section play. Lost to Taiwan Blue 69–82 With several veteran players unavailable through injury or personal Lost to Athletes In Action USA 60–81 reasons, coach Mike McHugh was obliged to blood some rookies to Lost to Korea 60–69 the international scene and finished the season more confident in the depth of our women’s squad. Highlight of the schedule was probably the win over 12th-ranked University of Wisconsin in NZ Argentina and a close result against seventh-ranked Cuba in China.