Porirua, New Zealand Saturday September 22nd.
More than 70 Coaches from the bottom of New Zealand's North Island were present today at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua to listen to presentations from the national team coaches of the Junior Tall Ferns, Junior Tall Blacks, Australian Gems and Australian Emus.

The two hour clinic by the national coaches was presented prior to the commencement of the final games in the 3 match Oceania Championships.

The Clinic was the brainchild of Patrick Hunt, President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches(WABC), who was present to open the clinic and introduce the presenting coaches. 

This is the first WABC clinic in New Zealand and follows the staging of the first such clinics in 2011 in Australia at the time of the Olympic Qualifiers in Melbourne and the U-17 Championships in Canberra.

The national team coaches Sean Fuller and Deslea Wrathalll (NZL) and Cheryl Chambers and Damian Cotter (AUS) presented on court, using a squad of players supplied by the Porirua Basketball Association, each of the coaches presenting aspects of their offensive or defensive strategies and/or training routines.

The presence of more than 70 coaches representing just a small fraction of the national basketball coaching fraternity in New Zealand, was heartening news for the organisers and for Basketball New Zealand who are shortly to unveil a major intiative in the coaching area as part of their 'All of Basketball' strategy. 
Certainly it is proof that coaching clinics in New Zealand will be well supported, with coaches eager to increase their knowledge.

For its part, FIBA Oceania and the WABC have been encouraged by the support for its first clinic and will ensure that in future Oceania Championships, an opportunity is create for the participating coaches to conduct a clinic where they share their knowledge, drills and strategies.

With the assistance of Basketball New Zealand, the WABC has video'd the presentations and will subsequently prepare a souvenir DVD from the clinic which will be made available to the coaches present at the clinic.  It is planned to also make the DVD available to all basketball federations in the Oceania Zone as an edcuation resources for those not able to attend the clinic. 
In time the clips from the clinic will form part of the library of WABC coaching resources available online through the FIBA website www.fiba.com.

FIBA Oceania and the World Association of Basketball Coaches is indeed grateful to the national team coaches of New Zealand and Australia, who took time out of their program of qualification for the 2013 FIBA World Championships to share their knowledge, strategies, skills and drills with the coaches of New Zealand.
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