Issue 28 – May 2010 Issue 2 7 – April 2010 Hi from the Front Desk! In this Issue May saw our first set of cluster camps being held around New Zealand as part of our Junior Programme. Well done to over the 250 participants Basketball Without Borders and congratulations to all athletes that have been selected to attend the next set of cluster camps. Refs Achieve Higher Honours These cluster camps are the beginning of the 2011 Up-Coming Tournaments Koru team selection. The final selections are made for each age group at their Cluster Camp 2. - U17 Championships - U19 Championships We have received some really exciting news this month with our Junior Tall Blacks Chris Duthie and Important Tournament Information Jordan Ngatai selected to attend the prestigious Updated Tournament Calendar & Due Dates FIBA Basketball Without Borders camp in Singapore late June. In our last newsletter I talked about the NZ U21 Championship Results importance of sending our junior athletes overseas Congratulations – Officials Appointed for to compete internationally as part of our junior development programme. It was Chris and Jordan’s U17 and U19 Nationals top efforts at the recent Albert Schweitzer Message from Sporting Pulse Tournament in Germany that got them selected for this camp. We are so thrilled they have been given Atomic Masters Basketball Club 22nd this opportunity. Please read page two of this Annual Tournament newsletter to learn more. 2010 Bartercard NBL Standings: Round 13 We must also pass on congratulations to our top Remainder of the 2010 NBL schedule referees who are also excelling internationally. Our very own Tim Brown and Gavin Zimmerman have NBL Playoffs recently received top refereeing honors. We have Pero on Hold full detail on page three of this newsletter. A few staff changes have been made in the office this month. Jemma Prescott who was our Coach games left I hope you are getting down to the courts and Player Development Administrator has left her and supporting your team on game night! position and Jaimie Hefelfinger our Executive Assistant has left to return back home to America. Upcoming this weekend are the U17 Nationals We will miss both Jaimie and Jemma but we are being held in Palmerston North and the U19 also excited to welcome Peter Kadar who is Nationals being held in Wellington. Good luck to all assisting us on an internship and Melinda Hodgson the qualifying teams, play hard but play fair! who has taken over from Jaimie. Next month Open Premierships will be held in West There are only three more rounds left in the NBL Auckland, Gisborne, Wellington and Buller. until the playoffs start. I have enjoyed watching the games and following the season. With not many Wishing you all the best, Roslyn Issue 28 – May 2 010 Basketball Without Borders Duthie has enrolled for an engineering degree at Canterbury University, and must now achieve a Nelson guard Chris Duthie and Porirua forward balance between basketball and studies. Jordan Ngatai have already learned so much about international basketball this year, but their education “In terms of basketball, this year has already been is about to ramp up another level with selection for very successful and I would wish that to continue,” the Basketball Without Borders camp in Singapore, he said, “That means maintaining and improving my June 28-July 1. level, and ensuring I’m in the best physical shape for the world championship qualifying series against About 50 young athletes from across Asia and Australia in September.” Oceania will attend the event, part of the NBA and FIBA’s global development programme that uses Meanwhile, Ngatai has his sights set on a US basketball to create social change in the areas of college career and sees BWB as a stepping stone education, health and wellness. NBA players and towards that goal. coaches will oversee the camp, which will also feature extensive community outreach. “Jordan learned a lot at the AST and quickly adjusted his game to the international style of play,” For Duthie (18) and Ngatai (17), it is a prime said Wrathall. “As the tournament went on, he had opportunity to build on the lessons learned during longer periods of being able to compete against the Junior Tall Blacks’ visit to Europe for the Albert bigger and more fancied forwards.” Schweitzer Tournament in Germany last month. Duthie was the star performer on that tour, Ngatai was speechless at the prospect of an all- averaging 12.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals expenses-paid stint in Singapore. “I’ve never done during the AST, while Ngatai almost led the anything like this before,” he said. “Hopefully, it will Emerging Junior Tall Blacks to an upset series teach me heaps more about international basketball victory over Australia at last year’s FIBA Oceania and make me a better player.” U17 Championships. Players at BWB will be schooled in fundamentals “Chris played well against every team at the and positional development in morning practices, tournament, and worked hard to develop his then get the chance to scrimmage against each defensive footwork and intensity,” reported JTB other in the evenings. They will be outfitted in Nike coach Deslea Wrathall. “He often had to mark the apparel – practice gear, shoes and socks. top scorer in other teams and did a good job defensively to contain them.” Duthie is still buzzing from the experience. “It was great to see and play against some of the best basketball teams of my age in the world, being able to compare myself with them,” he said. “I’m very excited to be invited to Singapore and to be coached by NBA players and coaches. Opportunities don’t get any better that this.” Pictured left to right: Jordan Ngatai, Chris Duthie Since leaving Waimea College at the end of 2009, Congratulations Jordan and Chris! Issue 28 – May 2 010 Refs Achieve Higher Honours Christchurch-based ref took the court for the Oceania U17 championships in Brisbane. Tim Brown’s latest refereeing appointment – to the “One of my life goals was to receive my FIBA FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech badge,” says Zimmerman (40). “Now that I have my Republic – will send him back to the drawing board badge, I suppose my next goal is to perform and do to reconsider his officiating goals. Meanwhile, fellow well in Israel, and hope that further appointments official Gavin Zimmerman will step way outside his will follow.” comfort zone when he appears at the FIBA U18 European Championship for Men (Division B) in Basketball New Zealand chief executive Tim Israel, July 22-August 1. Hamilton is proud that international recognition of NZ basketball does not end with national teams. “I was really pleased and excited to receive this “These appointments are great news for our invitation, and at the same time a little anxious, refereeing community and show the pathway for having never traveled further than Australia before.” young officials, who also dream of performing on the For Brown (32), the world championship marks a world stage some day,” he says. Meanwhile, new pinnacle in a career that has already seen him Zimmerman will be in NBL action on Saturday, preside at Olympic and WC qualifying events, as controlling the Christchurch Cougars v fico Nelson well as in the Australian NBL. Giants clash in Christchurch. “This is a huge appointment, not only for me, but also for Basketball New Zealand and FIBA Oceania,” says Brown. “The appointment to a world championship far exceeds goals that I had in refereeing, particularly in the short to medium term, and I intend to make the most of the opportunity. “After the tournament, I will reassess my goals.” Born across the Tasman, Brown relocated to Auckland seven years ago to be with now-wife Jaimee, a former referee herself, a move that has probably accelerated his promotion through the ranks. “People ask me if we would move back to Australia, but I am happy and settled in New Zealand, and feel privileged to represent New Zealand on the world stage,” he says. “[In Australia], this opportunity would not have been available so early on in my international career.” Zimmerman’s progress has been less meteoric, but includes 12 years in our national league and an IWBF badge to referee wheelchair basketball. His highest international appointment to date was the 2006 Tall Blacks v Qatar home series, but after achieving his FIBA license last year, the Congratulations Tim! Issue 28 – May 2 010 Up-Coming Tournaments U17 Tournament T-Shirts Tournament t-shirts can be purchased for $25 each from NZ U17 Championships Palmerston North Basketball Association. Please email [email protected] for more information. NZ U19 Championships Wellington, June 4-7, 2010 Palmerston North, June 4-7, 2010 B&M Centre, Pascal Street, Palmerston North Southwest Stadium, 11 Hutchinson Road, Newtown, MENS POOL 1 MENS POOL 2 Wellington East Girls College, Austin Street, Mt Victoria, Wellington A Harbour A Otago A New Plymouth MENS POOL 1 MENS POOL 2 Te Tai Tokerau Counties Manukau Red Canterbury A Harbour A Thames Valley North Canterbury Harbour B Porirua A MENS POOL 3 MENS POOL 4 Waikato Gold Otago West Auckland Blue Nelson MENS POOL 3 MENS POOL 4 Waikato Gold Hutt Valley A West Auckland Nelson A Mid Canterbury Harbour B Hawkes Bay Wellington Palmerston North Tauranga City Rotorua Tauranga City WOMENS POOL 1 WOMENS POOL 2 WOMENS POOL 1 WOMENS POOL 2 Hutt Valley Waitakere City Harbour Hutt Valley Counties Manukau North Canterbury Counties Manukau Tauranga City Auckland New Plymouth Hawkes Bay Gisborne Otago Lake Taupo WOMENS POOL 3 WOMENS POOL 4 WOMENS POOL 3 WOMENS POOL 4 Wellington Waitakere City Harbour A Canterbury A Waikato Otago Waikato Porirua Invitational Palmerston North Nelson Tauranga City Palmerston North Wellington The U19 draw and results can be found on the BBNZ website link: The U17 draw and results can be found on the BBNZ website http://www.basketball.org.nz/competitions/tournaments/rep link: -tournaments/ http://www.basketball.org.nz/competitions/tournaments/rep- tournaments/ Issue 28 – May 2 010 Important Tournament Information Transfer.