WELLINGTON/AUKLAND – Earlier this week Basketball New Zealand (BNZ) hosted FIBA’s Oceania office staff members to discuss FIBA’s new competition system coming into effect as of 2017.

The discussions took place on Monday in BNZ’s head quarters and then on Tuesday at High-Performance Sport New Zealand. These workshops saw BNZ and New Zealand national team staff learn about the inner workings and benefits of FIBA’s new competitions calendar.

“What’s really great about the new FIBA structure is that we’ll have more home games, there’s nothing like playing in front of a home crowd. From next year, the fans get to see the Tall Blacks regularly throughout New Zealand. Our guys will be able to spend more time at home, playing for their country in front of family and friends. This is hugely rewarding for every member of the team,” commented New Zealand Men’s National Team Head Coach, Paul Henare.

You can find extended details about the new competition system here.

BNZ CEO, Iain Potter was very complimentary of FIBA’s decision to implement this new system.

“We applaud FIBA for their foresight in adopting a new World Cup qualifying structure, which makes basketball a more globally inclusive game. The new Asian Zone competition guarantees home games for the Tall Blacks and opens up opportunities for the Tall Ferns and our national age-group teams to play in a wider international pool. We expect the new competition structure to be challenging, but it means better experiences for our players and a chance to really prove ourselves on the world stage.”

“We’re also confident that the new structure will increase the presence of our teams and brands both here in New Zealand, but also throughout Asia, which provides opportunities to develop commercial partnerships in a region that New Zealand is already very much a part of from a trade perspective. So there may be new funding streams to tap into, which will help us grow the New Zealand game, and add further investment into our grassroots and high-performance programmes.”

FIBA