The Australian Men's National Team, the Boomers, have been in town for a few days now and are well underway in their preparations for the Sino-Australia Challenge against China starting on Friday at the Perth Arena. With preparations well underway we thought we'd give the WA Basketball Community another update on the teams activities. 

The team will play two games in WA and two in China. History will be made on Friday when we will see the first International game at Perth Arena on Friday 7 June. The team will then head to what is likely to be a sold-out WA Basketball Centre on Sunday 9 June for game two.

With four WA bred players in the squad (Luke Nevill, Cody Ellis, Daniel Johson & Cameron Gliddon) plus Wildcats star Jesse Wagstaff, there is a strong WA flavour to the 22-man squad. If you haven't got your tickets for the Perth Arena game on Friday, secure yours now through Ticketek or click here.  

While the team has been busy since Sunday afternoon in camp at the WA Basketball Centre, they've also been out and about in the WA basketball community. An update on the interaction between the WA basketball community and the Boomers is below. 

WABC Visits
On Saturday 1 June, WA big man Luke Nevill headed out to the WABC to shoot a promotional video for the Sino-Australia Challenge and met some local basketball players as well.

Then Perry Lakes Hawks and Perth Redbacks WABL players met WA youngster & reigning NBL Rookie of the Year Cameron Gliddon along with Clint Steindl and Mitch Norton on Sunday 2 June at the WABC. The trio volunteers their morning to meet plenty of young WABL players who got to have their photo taken with the up & coming Boomers. 

Click here to see the photos from the WABC visits. 

School Visits
Yesterday was a busy day for the team, they spent their only morning off visiting four lucky primary schools. The schools were selected out of the Term One Association Cup program run by Basketball WA. The squad visited Mosman Park Primary School, Rosalie Primary School, City Beach Primary School & Rossmoyne Primary School. 

Click here to see the boys in action at the school visits and read the report by The West Australian here.

Coaching Clinic
In the evening the team opened their doors for a coaching clinic for over 50 coaches of all levels in WA. The coaches were invited in to watch the last hour of the Boomers closed session and then got a one hour coaching clinic from Boomers Head Coach Andrej Lemanis. 

Game Details
Make sure you're there to show the team your support in both games of the series by securing your tickets now. 

Game One
Friday 7 June
Perth Arena @ 6:30pm
Tickets through Ticketek (Click Here)

Game Two - Limited Tickets Remaining
Sunday 9 June
WA Basketball Centre @ 2:00pm
Tickets through Ticketmaster (Click Here) 
Post-Game Signing & Photo Opportunities with the team

There will be a bye for most WABL teams on Sunday 9 June with only the Perry Lakes Hawks and South West Slammers taking to the court at the WA Basketball Centre before the Boomers game against China. We encourage everyone to head down to one of the two games to support the series as we continue to build our relationship with Basketball Australia and the National Programs. 

Photo courtesy of Basketball Australia