Record Numbers at Vic Country Skills Day

Sunday the 19th of March saw 130 children attend the 2017 Basketball Victoria Country Under 14 Skills Day.

16 talented and passionate coaches gave up their day to help select the next crop of basketball superstars to come out of this well-known basketball community.

The Central Basketball Academy region covers a large area and there were excellent numbers attending from Melton, Bacchus Marsh, Ararat, Stawell and Ballarat. The event was held on the 4 courts of the Mars Minerdome. The focus on the day, was on skill development the selection of athletes into the 2017 Basketball Academy Program.

Due to the record numbers attending, the Academy group will be the largest in history for the region. Head Coaches Lidina Constable and Rob Brown will be supported by a large group of coaches throughout the season to ensure each player is regularly being upskilled. There are two live-in camps held during the year, both being held in Ararat. The program is an identification of talent at an early age and at the final camp selections are made for those athletes to attend the Golden Nugget camp which will be held in September. From the Golden Nugget Camp, Basketball Victoria Country (BVCC) coaching staff select the children to represent BVCC at Southern Cross Challenge and Albury Country Cup – both held in January 2018 and include teams from other states and New Zealand.

Central Academy has helped in developing many great basketballers in the past 22 years. Some of these represent Ballarat Miners and Ballarat Rush in VJBL and SEABL. Many have represented Victoria at National Championships, and featured in Australian junior teams. NBA player Matthew Dellavedova was a member of the Central Basketball Academy for 2 years and went on to represent his state and country and now is a key player for the Milwaukee Bucks. The program is also a development program for coaches and over the years has produced coaches who have progressed to coaching State Teams.

For further information please contact Manager – Athlete & Coach Development: Nathan Cooper-Brown nathan.cb@ballaratbasketball.com