Go for 2&5 Basketball WA Summer Classic bursting at the seams
Basketball WA is overwhelmed with the response from eager participants heading into this weekend’s Go for 2&5 BWA Summer Classic.
The Lightning Carnival style tournament runs over three weekends for Under 11 to Under 19 age groups with each playing on different weekends. In a sign of strong growth at the grass roots level, Basketball WA is bursting at the seams for the Under 11 to 13 age groups.
This weekend will see 279 games of basketball with 86 teams nominated from all over the metropolitan area as well as Country areas such as Mandurah, Australind, Bunbury and Geraldton.
For the first time in over 5 years the Championships will be played on a Friday night due to the overwhelming nomination numbers. In order to accommodate the large number of participants, games have also had to be taken to alternative venues for the first time.
The tournament is held at Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium (the home of Basketball WA) and runs over three weekends for Under 11 to Under 19 Men and Women. The first weekend will see Basketball WA hold games at Loftus Recreation Centre and Lords Sports Club in addition to Perry Lakes Stadium.
"Our nomination numbers in 2009 increased by 19% which is a strong sign of the interest in our sport at a grass roots level." Basketball WA Operations Manager CJ Jackson said.
Over 210 teams from all over the state have registered for the three weekend tournament in 2009. This year will be the last ever Summer Classic to be played at Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium as Basketball WA gets set to move into the new WA Basketball Centre in 2010.
"Moving into the new WA Basketball Centre will continue to create more interest in our sport and we could not be happier to see more children playing our great game." said Jackson.
The Go for 2&5 BWA Summer Classic has had many of WA's best basketball players participate including current Wildcats squad members Jarrad Prior and Joel Wagner who both come from the Perth Redbacks junior program.
Current and former NBL players such as Carmie Olowoyo, James Harvey, CJ Bruton, Matthew Burston & Stephen Black have all come from the WA junior system. The current Perth Lynx squad also has a majority of WA produced players who have participated in the BWA Summer Classic.
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