The goal may be the same but the game has changed. The AOBP (All of Basketball Plan) was implemented in 2012 under the direction of Sports New Zealand with a view to securing more resources for the sport of basketball in New Zealand. We now know what happened in that regard. 2013 saw Sports New Zealand announce that funding for the Tall Blacks and Ferns would be zero…zip!!

Nevertheless, TCB (Taranaki Country Basketball Inc) and NPBA (New Plymouth Basketball Association Inc.) have followed the spirit of the AOBP and are entering a new and exciting era for basketball in the province. We now work more closely together, for the benefit of the age group players in our region, than we have done for a long time.

In December 2012, an enthusiastic group of individuals from around Taranaki formed a new society called Basketball Taranaki Inc. With the formation of this society the development of age group players in Taranaki took a giant step forward.

Under the AOBP, gone is the need for regional premiership tournaments to work out which team earns the right to play at the Nationals. Taranaki now has a seat at the table and has automatic entry into the BBNZ run national tournaments. This means the best players in our province will go on to compete at the National level against the best players from other regions around New Zealand.

Two Opportunities

There are now two opportunities for New Plymouth age group players. The Taranaki pathway is for our elite players and leads to participation in the BBNZ National Tournaments. A team of 12 players from the U13, U15, U17, U19 and U23 age groups will be selected to represent the province and compete in the BBNZ tournaments.

All players participating in teams that play in any NBPA league are eligible to trial for the Taranaki team. These trials commence on Feb 2^nd and run through to Feb 24^th with the National tournaments scheduled to run in July 2013. The U13’s are scheduled to run on October so the rep trials will occur at a later time.

Taranaki Pathway

Players will trial for a Taranaki team that will compete in a zonal seeding tournament including Manawatu, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne to determine final seedings for the Nationals. The zonal seeding tournament is tentatively scheduled for Queens Birthday weekend.

The Taranaki teams will then compete in the U15, U17 and U19 Nationals which will be held in July with the U23’s in August and the U13’s in October.

New Plymouth Pathway

Players will trial for New Plymouth U13, U15 and U17 (U19’s are under review) age group teams who will then go on to compete at the new Basketball Pacific tournament to be held in Palmerston North over Easter weekend in late March.

New Plymouth based players who are successful in their selection for a Taranaki team are eligible to play in the New Plymouth Age Group teams should they decide to trial. The intention is to provide opportunity for as many players as possible to grow and develop in the game through participation in competitively run basketball tournaments.

Due to the timing of the BBNZ and Basketball Pacific tournaments, the Taranaki and New Plymouth trials will run separately but held over a concurrent monthly period.

Costs

Players need to consider the costs associated with participating in either the New Plymouth and/or the Taranaki teams. The underlying principle is that teams are self- funding with the Associations actively seeking funding to offset the costs. Funding is not guaranteed however.

Advertisements

Advertisements for both the Taranaki and New Plymouth age group teams are being placed in The Daily News over the weekends of 26^th Jan and 2 Feb. Players in each age group are eligible to trial for either or both of the Taranaki and New Plymouth teams.

Contact details:

Kevin Fenwick 021 240 1574

Eileen Hall 027 413 1252

Email: npbball@xtra.co.nz