Secondary School basketball is continuing to reach new heights, our fantastic game is a positive outlet that more young people are taking up every year – and basketball is projected to be the most participated sport within Secondary Schools by 2020. This is evident in Junior, ‘A’ and ‘AA’ premierships as they become more stretched, most tournaments hitting their max team capacity before registration cut-off.
Schools are entering more teams and needing more players than ever before, however this is leading to players doubling up. While this is more obvious in female competitions, the number of Schools who choose to play athletes across multiple sports or Junior/Senior grades is increasing. Managing athletes across multiple sports or grades is a decision that either the School and/or the athletes guardian has made. With this decision, Schools and parents should not expect each sport to be able to cater for these athletes. As you would have done when making this decision, each sport has to juggle the administration across multiple competitions taking place while also ensuring that venue and host requirements are met. We have recently had instances where teams have tried to use their team and player availability as an advantage by stating if they can’t get an assurance of a request the team would pull out of the competition!
School Sport NZ (formally NZSSSC) recently published an article on monitoring student athletes, specifically focusing on workload and negative effects on your athletes, such as injuries and burnout. The article features a monitoring programme that schools have an opportunity to utilise. Check out the article here: http://www.nzsssc.org.nz/newsarticle/69426?newsfeedId=54025
Winter Tournament Week is a short window that has to fit a plethora of sport tournaments, and there is unfortunately no way we can all fit in without clashing with one another. In saying that, Basketball New Zealand’s first priority (if possible) is making sure our Junior and Senior events do not clash.
To ensure we all understand what is expected when entering a Non/Qualifying Tournament and to help with prior logistics and administration, the following need to be factored into your plans. Where possible we will attempt to finish this tournament early so teams that are able to, have the option to travel home on the last day:
1. Coaches and managers are expected to attend the technical meeting usually held the night before the first day of competition
2. Only the 12 players submitted and confirmed at the technical meeting can participate in the tournament
3. Teams can expect to play 1 or 2 games a day – this includes the final day of the tournament
4. Teams can expect to play between the hours of 8am and 10pm (hours are subject to many logistical factors)
