By Dale Budge
Basketball New Zealand has confirmed no players will be blacklisted from competing in national or representative basketball by being aligned with an unaffiliated group operating in Auckland and Counties Manukau.
Auckland City Basketball, a break-away not-for-profit organisation led by former Tall Black Lindsay Tait, has successfully begun operating across Auckland over the past few months in competition with the three regional bodies – Auckland City, Waitakere and Counties Manukau – after being disillusioned with those regional associations and the Auckland Basketball Services Limited (an organisation set up to manage basketball across the city on behalf of the associations).
Many of the ACB group had previously worked for the ABSL and have pursued what they see is a better model.
A fired-up Tait shared a recent email from Counties Manukau Basketball claiming anyone playing with ACB would not be permitted to play for their rep sides or for national sides.
But Basketball New Zealand has clarified that will not be the case.
“Anyone can play basketball anywhere as long as they have a ball and can find a hoop – that’s the great thing about the sport – play at the local council park, at a school, in your driveway or in an organised event,” Basketball New Zealand chief executive Iain Potter told Counties Sports Hub.
“Most players can find a way to get involved, but if it becomes a passion and they want to try and go as far as they can (and become a rep level player) then they need to participate inside the structured system. We are talking about the small percentage that can achieve that level – for most their mates, their school, their community will be who they play for.
“To be eligible to be a rep simply requires that you belong to an affiliated association – one of the 36 affiliated associations that belong to Basketball NZ (plus talent, dedication and a willingness to meet the expectations of the rep team).
“Most rep teams will expect a commitment to team trainings, fundraising, some amount of fees, participation in preparation events and the zonal qualification event and Nationals if the team makes it that far.
“This is what every sport would expect so there is nothing special except that basketball often plays its competitions in a tournament format as opposed to a weekly league. So that requires travel and accommodation costs and a willingness to be away from home for four plus nights. This has a financial cost that can be a barrier for some. But many associations work hard to help families that struggle with the cost – however it can be a barrier still.”
Tait and the ACB have long-standing relationships with kids in the region and are hugely popular with them making any thought of blacklisting a major talking point.
But with Basketball New Zealand making it clear both parties can operate simultaneously kids would only need to link with an affiliated body and be available for rep windows to be eligible for selection.
The other possibility is for the ACB to operate as a singular affiliated club or for its clubs to affiliate to one of the regional bodies, something Basketball New Zealand is encouraging.
Franklin Basketball was set up in a similar manner with the organisation breaking away from Counties Manukau to successfully form its own regional body.
ABSL this week announced their plans for rep teams via an email explaining what they expect of potential players.
“The programme will commence with four camps, three in your association and one combined Association Camp,” the email said. “The first of the Association Camps will be held during the week of 18 January. To be considered for selection you will need to attend 2 out of 3 of the Association Camps and the combined Association Camp. The combined camp will likely be held in the week of 1 March. Attendance at the three Association Camps is open to everyone. Team selection will be made at the conclusion of the third Association Camp; therefore, the combined camp will be by invitation only to those selected in the squad.
“Following selection, there will be one training session per week, leading to the regional qualifiers in early June and the Nationals in July. The dates for these are not yet confirmed.
“During the training period there will be three compulsory tournaments to provide squads with exposure to tournament play. One of these tournaments will be held during Easter. The other tournament dates will be confirmed as part of the Super City planning underway with the other Zone 1 Associations.
“To be eligible for selection you will need to be a member of a club that is affiliated to your association. This will be confirmed when you sign up for the camps and if necessary, you can join a club during sign up. Check with your club, we will be collaborating with clubs across Auckland to be involved in our programmes and affiliating to their associations.
“We will be publishing the full rep schedule shortly, at this stage we wanted to ensure everyone had an early heads up of a couple of key dates for next year.”
ACB is confident they can continue operating simultaneously to ABSL but is open to exploring going down an affiliation pathway.
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