The ADF men’s team and the Oceania team following their match. The ADF team beat their competitors by 20 points

ADF basketball in good hands for future

By Cmdr Chris Siegmann
ADF Basketballers had a unique opportunity over the Australia Day weekend to participate in a carnival at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra.

ADF teams usually participate in a Canberra carnival over the Australia Day weekend, but unfortunately, due to the extreme heat and the fire situation, that carnival was cancelled.

However, the Australia under age teams, who traditionally have a training camp at the AIS in the week preceding the Canberra carnival, were looking for games to finish their week.

A tournament was quickly arranged and teams from the AIS, ACT Academy of Sport, NSW Institute of Sport and some local teams, including the Canberra Gunners, the local Australia Basketball Association team, were brought together. The tournament also included a team representing Oceania, made up of players from Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji, PNG and the Solomon Is, who had also come to Canberra to participate in the scheduled carnival after participating in a training camp in Sydney the previous week.

The ADF mens team beat Australia U16s by more than 20 points, Oceania by 20, just went down to the AIS by 3 and in their last game went down against Australia U18s by 25.

The girls provided good competition for ACT U20s and Aust U16s and 18s, but unfortunately went down in all games.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the formation of the ASD Basketball Association and a Gala ball to mark the occasion will be held in Sydney in October. Past players, referees and managers are invited to contact Cmdr Chris Siegmann at chris.siegmann@defence.gov.au