AUS - NBL launches new community initiative

MELBOURNE - Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) has launched a new community programme aimed at having its players and coaches visit over 150,000 school-age children over the next 12 months.

Basketball Australia (BA) Chair and former New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally on Monday joined Julian Khazzouh and Luke Martin of the Sydney Kings and BA CEO Larry Sengstock at Alexandria Basketball Stadium in Sydney to formally launch the new league-wide initiative.
 
The NBL Community Program will harness the collective strength of existing NBL clubs’ community engagement programmes and play an active role in the growth and development of basketball in Australia supporting the community plan developed by Basketball Australia.

Basketball is one of the largest participation sports in Australia with more than one million people regularly playing it. The sport is played almost equally by men and women with competitions held year round.

“Since its inception in 1979, the NBL and its clubs have delivered literally hundreds of thousands of school clinics and visits that have reached millions of Australian and New Zealand school children,” said Keneally.

“All nine of our NBL clubs have committed to support the NBL Community Program and, separate to their individual extensive community engagement, will provide a minimum of 100 player appearances per team to deliver the programmes of NBL Community.”

“We are aiming to reach over 150,000 Australian school-aged children through those visits, which will reaffirm our key messages of healthy active living, social inclusion and education.”

A vital component of the new NBL Community Program will be the holding of a ‘Community Round’ for Round 21 of the iiNet NBL Championship this weekend (Thursday 23-Sunday 26 February).

As part of this special themed round, all seven iiNet NBL Championship home games will help support Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation, a charitable organisation aimed at promoting organ and tissue donor awareness. Players will wear rainbow shoelaces during their games and the NBL’s new Community page on the NBL website will also have a Zaidee’s donation portal.

As part of Community Round, NBL teams hosting home games will participate in a range of activities including:
- The Gold Coast Blaze will host a Family Fun Day at the Gold Coast Convention Centre prior to their home game against the Wollongong Hawks.
- The Adelaide 36ers will hold auctions to raise money for the Hudson Maher Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis SA.
- The New Zealand Breakers will be auctioning a team experience to raise money for CanTeen.
- The Melbourne Tigers will showcase community basketballers in their pre-game and halftime breaks.

Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation CEO Allan Turner explained that the NBL’s support was invaluable. 

“We are so proud to be the chosen charity of the NBL’s inaugural community round,” he said.

“The exposure that organ and tissue donation will receive through this wonderful initiative from the NBL cannot be underestimated, and it is particularly pertinent given that it coincides with DonateLife week.

"This is another great leap forward for Zaidee’s, and one that we hope will open more doors for us across Australia.

"If this round helps to save the life of just one person by inspiring discussion amongst the community, then it is an outstanding success as far are we are concerned.”

To find out more about the NBL Community Program, go to http://www.nbl.com.au/community.

For more information on Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, go to ZAIDEE.org.

FIBA