From the CEO
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Off the Boards The Official Newsletter of Basketball Queensland From the CEO Welcome back from your Christmas and New Year holidays. I trust that you have had a good break and you are enthusiastically looking forward basketball in 2009. A number of important things have occurred since the last newsletter which you should be aware of. Firstly, Basketball Queensland will be managing the National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP) has been the flagship of elite junior athletic and coach development in Queensland. The aim of the program is to develop players for selection into the AIS and National Junior Teams, (Emus & Gems) with a Vision of equipping the athletes with the skills to compete successfully in the National Basket- ball League, Women’s National Basketball League and the Australian National Teams (Opals & Boomers) in the future. From 1994 until the end of 2008, the NITCP was delivered on behalf of Basketball Australia by the Queen- sland Academy of Sport (QAS) in conjunction with Basketball Queensland (BQ); however, due to the QAS shift in focus to Senior Elite Sport, (Olympic & World Championship athletes) 2009 sees the delivery of the NITCP move back to BQ. The QAS will still provide strong financial support (including continued provision of world class facilities in Brisbane and Townsville); but BQ will coordinate, manage and fund this program into the future. The QAS has been outstanding in the professional support & delivery of the program over a sustained pe- riod, which has culminated in a large number of Queensland athletes securing Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Basketball Scholarships in recent years. To ensure program continuity BQ has appointed Murry Aldred at the Manager of this program. Murry was previously the Head Coach of the South NITCP and comes to the position with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the program and how to obtain maximum benefit from the relationship we have with the QAS. Secondly, Basketball Queensland had four Under 15 State Development teams competing at the Pacific Coast Slam which is held in Port Macquarie each year. This tournament has representative teams from New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand and South Australia. The Queensland teams faired extremely well securing the following placings: South Girls Gold South Boys Silver North Boys 5th North Girls 4th From the CEO Congratulations to all of the players in these teams who not only performed extremely well on the court; but were great ambassadors for Queensland off the court. I also wanted to say thanks to all of the coaches and managers of these teams who gave up their time to both prepare the teams before the tournament; but did an outstanding job with the teams at the tournament. As February draws closer, the junior representative season restarts. Good luck to all of the teams competing in the various competitions throughout Queensland. Graham Burns Chief Executive Officer Basketball Queensland BQ Products Basketball Queensland has just received another shipment of size 6 basketballs ready to be delivered to your door. The basketballs are made from a high-grade rubber ensuring the basketball does not wear out before you do. The basketballs are available in large quantities and can be sent immediately to your association, club or school. Basketballs cost $7.50 each and can be supplied in orders up to 250 in a matter of days. Postage/delivery is in addition to total unit cost. For further information, please contact Basketball Queensland Development Manager Christopher Riches via email at [email protected] or by calling 0403 244 311 State Team Information Log on the Basketball Queensland Website to view all the latest annoucments regarding the State Teams. www.basketballqld.net.au Off the Boards BQ High Performance Program Since 1994, the National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP) has been the flagship of elite junior athletic and coach development in Queensland.The aim of the program is to develop players for selection into the AIS and National Junior Teams, (Emus & Gems) with a Vision of equipping the athletes with the skills to compete successfully in the National Basketball League, Women’s National Basketball League and the Australian National Teams (Opals & Boomers) in the future. With a strong commitment to the elite holistic development of our junior athletes, the program has garnered much success. NITCP Athletes have gone on to represent various NBL & WNBL teams; AIS Programs; Junior & Senior National Representation (Incl Opals & Boomers); as well as Division 1 US Colleges. Athletes call a wide variety of associations home, including: Brisbane; Cairns; Gold Coast; Ipswich; Logan; Mackay; Maroochydore; Northside; Rockhampton; Southern Districts; South West; Toowoomba & Townsville. The NITCP also provides unique Coach Development pathways providing our Elite Junior Athlete Coaches with opportunities to progress to National League Teams and Programs. The NITCP has been instrumental at providing Queensland Coaches with the necessary professional sports program skills, to compete at the elite junior level but also catapulting them to the ranks of the NBL & WNBL as well as National Programs and Australian Junior Teams: Mick Downer (Perth Wildcats); Dale Ryan (Brisbane Bullets); Paul Goriss (AIS & Australian Under 18 Mens); Dale Waters (Dandenong Rangers); Peter Buckle (Townsville Fire); David Mitchell (Logan Thunder) & Patrick Brady, Annette Winton & Nikki Bairstow (Townsville Fire). Until the end of 2008, the NITCP was delivered on behalf of Basketball Australia by the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) in conjunction with Basketball Queensland (BQ); however, due to the QAS shift in focus to Senior Elite Sport, (Olympic & World Championship athletes) 2009 sees the delivery of the NITCP move back to BQ. The QAS will still provide strong financial support (including continued provision of world class facilities in Brisbane and Townsville); but BQ will coordinate, manage and fund this program into the future. Every change brings opportunity and we have worked very hard over the past year to determine how the new look program will work. We believe that the new program will build on the excellent program delivered by the QAS so that the new program will, in many ways, provide increased athlete and coach development and support. We are pleased to announce the appointment of Murry Aldred as the Manager of this program. Murry comes to BQ after having worked for the QAS as the Head Coach of the South NITCP. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and will be able to maximise the relationship that still exists with the QAS. For more information on this program visit the Basketball Queensland website www.basketballqld.net.au Off the Boards BQJBC The BQJBC is now back into the swing of things with the Swap-over Challenge and Round 8 being played last weekend. Of the 24 teams who were eligible for the Swap-over Challenge 17 teams took up the opportunity to test themselves against the bottom placed Premier League teams for their chance to change divisions and try their luck against the best. Of these 17 teams 7 were victorious and have now changed divisions. We wish those teams who have changed divisions the best of luck against their new oppositions. To view all of the Swap-over Challenge results please go to the Draws and Results section of the BQ website and click on Swap-over Challenge. Draw Information As all involved in the BQJBC should be aware the draft draw of Rounds 9-14 is currently available on the website. These draws will be updated with game times and displayed in the PDF draw formats by the end of this week. The reason the draw could not be confirmed sooner was due to the possibility of teams changing divisions as a result of the Swap-over Challenge. BQJBC 2008-09 Initiatives At the start of the season Basketball Queensland outlined new initiatives that were to be implemented in the BQJBC this season. These initiatives included the Parent and Player Handbook, newsletters and BQJBC Player Statistics. Basketball Queensland is please to announce that all of these initiatives have been carried out. Parent & Player Handbooks The Parent & Player Handbooks should now have made their way to parents of all children involved in the BQJBC. If you are yet to receive a copy please contact your Association delegate. BQJBC Newsletter The first edition of the newsletter “Full Court Press” was released in December and the next edition is due for release shortly after the Swap-over Challenge. If you have an idea for an article or would like to see a specific feature in the BQJBC newsletter please email [email protected]. BQJBC Player Stats The BQJBC player statistics are updated each round. At the completion of each round players can see who the top 10 point scorers and fouling players were for that round under Stat Leaders and can see who the overall stat leaders are under Competition Stats on the Draws and Results section of the BQ website. If your stats appear to be incorrect please email [email protected] and we will have them rectified. State Classics Update State Classics Nominations will be called for the U12, U14 and U16 age groups by the end of this week. Please note as was done last year in the U12 and U14 age groups all teams will be registering their players online. Information on this process will be released when nominations are called for. Top of the North & Central District Carnival Results Please be advised that the Top of the North and Central District Carnival Results can now be viewed on the BQ website under Junior Competitions > Top of the North / CDC Results. Off the Boards QBL 2009 is set to be the most explosive season in QBL history! Click HERE for a copy of the full playing schedule of the 2009 Queensland Basketball League.