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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-02-24 Daily Xml
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North Adelaide Basketball Club

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:30): On Sunday afternoon I attended the North Adelaide Basketball Club fun day at their stadium on North East Road in my electorate of Torrens. It was a wonderful example of the difference sporting clubs can make to a community, as it involved not only players as young as five but also many members of their family. Short, fun on-court games were played involving juniors and seniors on the same team, with the added entertainment of the club dance team the Rockets.

North Adelaide Basketball Club is the only club to have its own dance team, who perform intermittently throughout the games. Keeping it in the family, girls ranging from five to 15 years, coached by Mackenzie Price, the daughter of a coach, perform their dance routines up to 20 times in a game to their chosen music, looking every part professionals, in step, and in their theatrical attire. Mackenzie is assisted by Sarah Sterry, the sister of one of the players.

The club has around 120 regular volunteers and an additional 30 who give willingly of their time as required. Many of these were present on Sunday, busy working, serving food and drinks, umpiring and commentating. Vice-President David Durant said that the purpose of the fun day was to give back to the wonderful community that is the North Adelaide Basketball Club, especially the children who form such a large part of the club. It also served as a platform to present the club's premier league playing groups to the sporting community.

With 50 teams, 10 senior teams, including the elite premier league men and women, and 40 junior teams, North Adelaide Basketball Club has a strong support base. The juniors have up to eight teams in an age group and they play two seasons each year. Seniors are similar, with the division 5 women's team, which David coaches, winning nine of 11 grand finals over several years. In premier league since 1957, the club has won five premierships in men's and 19 in women's, including a national league championship.

The club is working towards establishing a second tier of competition to promote the sport, engage more children and transition them, where appropriate, to elite level teams. Formed in 1939 as the Panthers Basketball Club, there was a name change to North Adelaide Basketball Club in 1951, and at some point later they became known as the Roosters. In 1982 this was changed to the Rockets, and today this is a very comfortable fit.

The North Adelaide Basketball Club has a proud history as one of South Australia's leading clubs with a great reputation as a centre for excellence for young players. It has also been the breeding ground for Olympic medallists and national stars who have played in Australia and overseas at the highest level. It's long history includes several families who have successive generations, where parents played and are now coaching and their children playing. David's family's playing history began with his aunt and uncle, then him, followed by his children and now his grandchildren, who I had the pleasure of meeting on Sunday.

The North Adelaide Basketball Club's contribution to our community was acknowledged at the Port Adelaide Enfield Council Australia Day Awards and citizenship ceremony in January this year, when the club was presented with a Service to the Community Award. The award, conducted in conjunction with the Australia Day Council of South Australia, recognised the service, commitment, effort and achievements of those who work tirelessly at the North Adelaide Basketball Club. President Wayne Schild and Vice-President David Durant accepted the award on behalf of the club, and I had the pleasure of being there on the day and congratulating them in person. On its communicator online publication, Scott Kelly, a committee member, summed up the spirit of the North Adelaide Basketball Club when he wrote:

NABC has (and has had) many people involved creating the club that we all love today. This starts with players, coaches, managers and committees putting in so many volunteer hours for many years to enjoy the game we love…This award is for all of us for all that we do.

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