Central’s is an emerging force in in SA. Every athlete and coach that is prepared to strive to achieve their best is valuable to our club’s success and we believe our club is ideally positioned to offer our athletes not only a pathway to top level basketball but also life long education and values.

STARplex is home to “Central Districts Lions Basketball Club”

The club looks to field a number of boys and girls teams/divisions in all age groups being: Juniors: Under 10 Under 12 Under 14 Under 16 Under 18 Under 20 Seniors: ABA DIV 2 DIV3 DIV 4 DIV 5 If a player wishes to join the club, contact in the first instance should be made with the Junior Coaching Director, Andrew Jantke, on 0410 759 280.

All new players to the Club are required to complete a Intent to Play Form. If you are a member of another club, a clearance will need to be sought from that club.

Please speak to the Club Secretary about a clearance if necessary. If a player is on a Required Players List of another club, you need to inform the Club Administration Officer or Club Secretary immediately.

If you are based in the Northern regions of the and SA you should consider playing basketball at Central Districts Basketball Club. Find out why on the following pages…….

Why the LIONS?

Goal Setting & Guidance Links to elite programs

Centrals have an annual goal setting and evaluation cycle. Our athletes More and more of the club’s athletes are been given opportunities to own their goals; they set their goals with guidance from our experienced participate in Elite pathway programs supported by coaching staff. The objectives of this process are to ensure players make and the Australian Institute of Sport. In late 2009 the club has 15 informed decisions on their goals and develop an understanding that the athletes in the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), South Australian Sports best pathways to success are through goal setting and goal Institute (SASI) or Development Network Squad Program (DNSP). management, commitment and hard work.

On the international scene we have had a number of players compete in Sept/Oct, Information Sessions: the US College System over recent years including 3 this year. Information sessions take place with athletes and parents. These sessions focus on: We also have 1 athlete that is currently in the Australian U17 team, 1 in • Expectations for the coming year, presented by the age group’s Div the Strike Squad and 1 in the 1 Coach Academy Squad. • Elite basketball pathways and playing District Basketball by Andrew Jantke, Centrals Junior Coaching Director, Assistant SA Metro State Centrals coaching staff Coach for past 3 yrs and over 25 yrs of playing and coaching experience in top level district basketball Centrals have access to some of the best coaches in the Northern • Goal setting and athlete preparation, presented by Centrals Suburbs. Most of our coaches have many, many years experience President Sean Carlin, former Olympian, Commonwealth games playing and coaching at a high level as well as coaching/teaching medallist and current Physical Education teacher. qualifications.

Feb/March, Goal Setting: We have coaches involved in the Elite SA Country and SA Metro State From February to March every male and female athlete in our club will programs and also SASI and the country DNSP programs. be required to complete their short/mid/long/dream goals. A template has been established to athletes and a copy of the template will Centrals Development program be given to all junior players.

Our development program has been developed and is overseen by our Our Coaching Director/coaches, will review and discuss player goals with Junior Coaching Director Andrew Jantke who has 25 yrs playing and each player that complets one. coaching experience in top level, district basketball.

April/May, Team Building: It has been developed based on his experience of being coached by, and Coaches are encouraged to conduct at least one team building day coaching with, some of the States most respected coaches and will throughout the year. This will focus on establishing team goals and ensure Central’s athletes have attributes and understanding of the game team culture. that will help them achieve their potential.

This program is available for review by anyone that requests it. Jun/Jul, Individual written player feedback: From June/July coaches complete feedback for every player they are Links to NRSA Academy and Trinity College responsible for. The feedback includes the individual’s strengths and areas to develop as well as at least 3 individual drills for them to work Centrals have strong links to the NRSA Basketball Academy, STARplex on. The coach will take the athletes own goals into account when and Trinity College. This gives our athletes excellent and convenient providing the feedback. access to extra training opportunities.

Facilities and resources

Our home, STARplex is widely considered to be the best multipurpose District Stadium in Metropolitan SA. One of the only fully Air Conditioned Stadiums. It is attached to a pool and Gym facilities. The Gym facilities include state of the art specific basketball training equipment imported from the .

In 2008 we hosted the U14 National Girls Championships, 2009 the U18 National Championships and will host the U20 Nationals Championships in 2010.

Latest news

3 July: Coach happenings

A lot of coaches at Centrals will be busy over the coming weeks.

Junior Coaching Director Andrew Jantke and U12 Div 1 Girls Coach Trudy Ireland will be in Tasmania at the U16 National Championships. Andrew will be Assistant of the SA Metro boys while Trudy will be assisting the SA Country Girls. I am sure both Trudy and Andrew will come back to the club with lots of fresh ideas and knowledge after working with and against the best athletes and coaches in the Nation.

Straight after Tasmania Trudy will be heading to Bangkok, Thailand for the World U19 Junior Championships to watch her daughter Kelsey compete with the Australian Gems team. Kelsey has been at the AIS for the past couple of years. Observing the best players in the world and having a daughter that has been right through the Australian basketball pathways provides Trudy with a unique insight.

We wish Trudy, Andrew and the teams they are involved with best of luck!

In the meantime Barrie Harris, Wayne Anderson and Teegan Green will be undertaking their Level 2 National Coaches qualifications over a weekend. These coaches have been dedicated to the Lions for many years and gaining these formal qualifications will certainly ensure their knowledge is extensive and up to date. Most Centrals Coaches have Level 1, Level 2 Coaching qualifications as well as many, many years of playing and/or coaching experience.

1 July: Centrals Athlete Awarded AIS Scholarship

For the first time in the 28 yr history of the AIS Basketball program, Centrals will have a player joining the Australian Institute of Sport Basketball program in on a fulltime scholarship from later this month.

In the past 5 yrs current and future NBA draftees such as , , , , and Patrick Mills have attended the AIS. The majority of our Australian Women’s team, currently 2nd placed in the world, have also attended in the AIS. This program is internationally respected, with the bulk of the AIS alumni going onto play professional basketball in the NBL and the highly paid Euroleague or NBA.

We are very pleased to announce that current U18 Div 1 men player Daniel Carlin is the athlete selected for this opportunity. At this stage, he will be the only male from SA at the institute for basketball and whilst from Daniel’s perspective, this is only the beginning and he still has a long way to go to achieve his goals, from a Centrals perspective this has shown that our athletes can infact be given these kinds of opportunities.

While Daniel knew he was a good chance to get offered a scholarship, having steadily improved with each National Championship (07,08,09) he has played in, he was somewhat taken aback by how quickly this opportunity has developed since playing U14 Div 2 boys only 4 yrs ago. Daniel has made many lifelong friends at the Lions and our philosophy is that no matter where athletes such as Daniel play, or what level they go onto the Lions will always be available as their home base, their support network whenever needed, and we’ll all follow Daniel’s career with great interest.

In the past 2 yrs Centrals has had an unprecedented number of athletes being given opportunities at the next level be it in State squads, US College Scholarships and SASI/ITC squads. There is certainly more room for improvement in this area but we are hopeful that our younger players (and their parents) that see more and more athletes being given these opportunities will take an interest in finding out the pathway to get there and include these opportunities in their goal setting horizons.

More info: http://www.basketball.net.au/index.php?id=302&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=661&cHash=fb5fe496ac

7 May: Former NBA Star Dee Brown running camp with Central's coach Ricky Simpson

Current Central's U18 Div 1 Men's coach Ricky Simpson, and STARplex General Manager and former Central's President Dale Martin, recently went on a study tour through the US .

During the tour they caught up with former player Dee Brown, who became famous after winning the 1991 Contest and they have now convinced Brown to take part in a camp that will be run by Ricky's STARplex Academy out of Central's home of STARplex.

The camps will be a great chance for Central's juniors to get up close to someone that has played with likes of , Kevin McHale, Tracy McGrady, and many more superstars.

The dates for the camps are September 28‐ 30 (U18s & U20s) and October 1‐2 (U14s & U16s). Contact Ricky on 85220622 for more info.

Click this link to the Advertiser article: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25441003‐5006371,00.html

18 Dec: Lions player to compete in NCAA Div 1 Hoops

Chris Clausen recently signed with the University Of North Dakota. This is a massive opportunity for Chris as the North Dakota Fighting Sioux compete in the Div 1 NCAA competition. Div 1 NCAA is where most of the future NBA draftees compete and Chris will well and truly be competing against some of the best young athletes in the world, in front of crowds of 10s of 1000s of spectators.

Chris sent an update through and states “I am pretty pumped to go there, it is where dad went to college, I think that is pretty awesome.” Dan Clausen, Chris’ father, attended the same school between 1980‐82 before coming to Australia to dominate our NBL.

Chris joined the Lions as an U18 1st year and played in the Div 2 competition. He was soon asked out to join our ABL squad and also made the U18 SA Metro State team as a 2nd year. Chris attended Trinity College and during U20s was part of the Trinity team that won the finals of the State School Knockout Championships. Chris, however was really put on the map when, through an unfortunate injury to current NBL star Joe Ingles, was thrust into the starring role with the U20 State team which competed in Perth in 2005. During this tournament he was rated in top 10 in many statistical categories including top 5 in scoring. The U20 Assistant Coach at the time Justin Schueller states “Chris was a big reason we won a silver medal in perth that year, some of his shooting efforts were exceptional that week”. During this tournament he came under the eyes of a number of College Scouts and his journey to Div 1 NCAA has not been an easy one with Chris having competed at Junior Colleges for the past 2 yrs.

Head Coach of North Dakota Brian Jones States:

“Chris is another young man who is a tireless worker and just finds ways to get things done by his effort,” said Jones. “He can really make shots but by the same token he is going to do whatever you need him to do to win a ballgame. With Chris and Brandon following in their fathers’ footsteps, they both have a vested interest in the future of Fighting Sioux basketball and now they get the opportunity to write their own chapter.”

The Lions wishes our player all the best on the NCAA Div 1 stage!

Club Contacts President Sean Carlin m: 0407 797 672 Club Secretary Natasha Bertram m: 0412 335 476

ABA Women Head Coach Winston Folland m: 0407 557 175 ABA Men Head Coach Scott Whitmore

Junior Panel Grahame Mansfield m: 0408 848 781 Junior Coaching Director Andrew Jantke m: 0410 759 280

All prospective players contact the Junior Coaching Director in the first instance