Basketball Australia and the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) have announced that as a part of the “Gold Coast GOLD” 2018 Team Preparation Program, both the Australian Boomers and Opals have received grants from the ACGA.
These grants will be used to support the men’s and women’s teams as they prepare to defend their Commonwealth Games gold medals from the 2006 games held in Melbourne.
Basketball has been reinstated to the Commonwealth Games program for the 2018 Games to be held on the Gold Coast and Basketball Australia is thrilled to have the opportunity to defend their titles.
Craig Phillips, CEO of the ACGA said “The ACGA looks forward to welcoming men’s and women’s basketball back to our Commonwealth Games team in 2018.
“We believe it is important that we provide our financial support to Basketball Australia through the “Gold Coast GOLD” program so that both teams can defend their Commonwealth Games titles.”
Basketball Australia’s CEO, Anthony Moore stated “We are delighted to once again be part of the Commonwealth Games family and eagerly look ahead to 2018 on the Gold Coast.
“The support of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is vital in preparing our emerging cohort of athletes that will take the floor as part of home Commonwealth Games. Our Boomers and Opals players had the great privilege of competing in Melbourne 2006 and for many the event ranks as one of their individual career highlights.
“We have great hopes for our national teams in 2018 and look forward to working with the ACGA on the journey to the Gold Coast.”
The funding provided by the ACGA will greatly assist both teams as they undertake a number of training camps and tours over the course of the next two and a half years, leading into the April 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Both programs have identified a number of opportunities to conduct camps and tours to help develop not only the existing team members to be “games ready” but also emerging athletes who will play an integral part of both teams in 2018.
Already during 2015 both the Boomers and Opals took teams to the world university games in Korea as a part of the Gold Coast GOLD program. This opportunity allowed the coaches, Andrej Lemanis (Boomers) and Brendan Joyce (Opals) to assess many players who have exhibited national team potential.
Boomers Head Coach Andrej Lemanis spoke about the support from the ACGA, “The partnership with ACGA is an important one for the Boomers Program. It enables us to work with and prepare our broader group of athletes who will be vital in our performance at the Commonwealth Games.
“These athletes will also play a pivotal role in the success of the Boomers program heading in to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and beyond.
“I’m very thankful for the support and look forward to working with our athletes, as well as with ACGA, in delivering a team that will give us the best opportunity to win a gold medal at what will be a magnificent event on the Gold Coast”.
Opals head coach Brendan Joyce echoed similar sentiments, saying “It’s absolutely awesome to have the support from the ACGA. I was fortunate to be an assistant coach and a part of the Gold Medal winning Boomers team at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 where the Opals also won the Gold Medal.
“It was a wonderful experience and highly competitive. The funding will assist us greatly with our preparation and make sure we can put together the best team possible to win another Commonwealth Games Gold medal in 2018”.
Other key strategies for the utilisation of the ACGA funding include;
- Early identification of the shadow squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Exposure to quality competition against targeted countries with the identified shadow squad leading into the 2018 games
- Provision of financial support to identified athletes to supplement their daily training environments away from the national program
- Intensive training blocks for identified athletes at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) with the aim of fast tracking graduation to senior national team
- Continuing relationship development with clubs/colleges to maximise athlete availability
Basketball Australia would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and thanks them for their ongoing support of basketball in the Commonwealth Games.
Media Contact
Basketball Australia – Grant Richardson, grant.richardson@basketball.net.au (03) 9847 2340.
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.