Coffs Harbour Basketball's first Hoop It Up 3-on-3 over the weekend proved a huge hit with the 42 particpating teams.

With 174 games on seven courts, plus a series of shoot-outs and skills contests, there was non-stop action at Sportz Central from 9.00 am until 6.00 pm on Saturday.

3-on-3 is played in the half court with only 3 offensive and 3 defensive players, a shortened game time, a focus on scoring and a more relaxed interpretation of the contact rules of the sport.

CHBA is the first basketball association on the north coast to conduct a 3-on-3 carnival and visitors from Port Macquarie and Bellingen have given the concept the thumbs up as have the almost 180 girls and boys from U11 to U17 who took part.

And why wouldn't they? They came, they played, they won and they took home the money.

In a further departure from the regular carnival practice, local organisers decided to allocate prizemoney for the winners and runners-up in each of the 7 divisions contested.

At a briefing before the event, Event Manager Judy Smith explained the concept of the competition and emphasised that it was an event designed for fun and action.

Local coaching identity Laurie Van Loo conducted a short clinic to show players new to the concept, the secrets to success in the new competition format and the distinctive rules of the game were explained before the games got underway

Some of the teams fitted in as many as 9 games of 3-on-3 by the time they left Sportz Central and with a short turn around time between games, there was not much sitting around during the day.

One of the big stories of the first Hoop It Up Carnival was the performance of Coffs Harbour's RLS U17 girls. Disappointed that a lack of entires in their division caused the cancellation of that competition, the team asked if they could contest the U17 boys division.

No shrinking violets these girls, they not only competed, but mixed it with the boys in the hustle, bustle and full body contact of 3-on-3 and at the end of the day in a field of 6 teams took home the runners up prizemoney.

The middle of the day was broken up with a series of skill competitions which pitted team against team in a dribbling, passing, ball handling and shooting competition and a separate shooting competition to find the most consistent shooter in each age division.

The winning teams in the skills competitions and the the top shooter in each age category all took home prizes for their effort.

Thirteen referees worked tirelessly for the duration of the day - all of them keen basketballers, but non-participants in the first 3-on-3 contest.
Their presence meant that there was no requirement for the competing teams to supply any referees which no doubt also added to their enjoyment.

The CHBA General Manager stole a line from the signs on display in some workplaces when advising players before the contest that there were only 2 rules they needed to remember. The first was that the referee is always right. The second is that if you think the referee is wrong, refer to rule 1.
It drew a chuckle at the pre-event briefing but set the tone for the day with great sportsmanship on display for the duration of the event.

Winning teams from the inaugural Hoop It Up 3-on-3 Carnival were;
U17 Boys Braves (Bellingen)
U15 Boys Coffs Boyz
U15 Girls Coffs Daiseys
U13 Boys Coffs 12ers
U13 Girls Shooting Stars (Port Macquarie)
U11 Boys Crushers (Coffs Harbour)
U11 Girls Four Stars (Coffs Harbour)

CHBA officials were very happy with the success of the inaugural event and will be back bigger and better in 2015.
They are also considering the incorporation of some 3-on-3 events in local competitions in the new year.
Go to our facebook page for a comprehensive album of photos capturing the spirit of the competition.
Click here to be taken to a short video clip from one of the divisions in the first Hoop It Up Carnival.
-ends-