Basketball NT with the support of the NT Government & MacDonnell Regional Council have established two new Remote Junior Basketball Academy’s in Central Australia.
The Academies are based in Ntaria (Hermannsburg) & Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) and offer junior skill development, Coach & Referee education, and sports governance programs.
The programming has proven to be very popular with 12adults & over 50 kids aged 5-15 participating on a weekly basis across the two new sites.
The Ntaria (Hermannsburg) & Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) Academies have joined the Alice Springs U12 Futures & U15Territory Academy participants to compete in the inaugural season of the Central Australia Junior Academy League (CAJAL).
The CAJAL offers 16 games for each representative side& is played each school holidays.
At the halfway point of the CAJAL Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) leads the competition on 16 points (See all results to date below):
| 2023/2024 Central Australia Junior Academy League *Table as of Round 4 |
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| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
| Ltyentye Apurte | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 236 | 188 | 48 | 16 |
| Alive Springs | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 204 | 213 | -9 | 13 |
| Ntaria | 8 | 2 | 6 | 186 | 223 | -37 | 6 | |
Alice Springs based Basketball NT Territory Development Program (TDP) members are also involved in the operations of the CAJAL by working to encourage younger players to dream big, work hard & aspire to one day be selected to the TDP.
We strongly believe in the expression “You can’t be what you can’t see”, so Alice based TDP players are heavily involved in the program as referees, score bench officials & coaching the Alice Springs Representative team.
It is hoped that Basketball NT’s rollout of the new Central Australia Academy programs & the CAJAL will not only offer much needed skill development & representative level game experience for Central Australian players & Coaches, but also ensure basketball loving kids across this remote region can jump on the official Basketball Australia Pathway & chase their basketball dreams!
For more news on Basketball in the Northern Territory, visit Basketball NT.
