THE BASKETBALL PATHWAY

The Basketball Pathway is the term used to describe the opportunities to play basketball from beginner to elite, at local level through to national representation.

Whilst there is no set convention for where to start basketball, the “pathway” diagram offers a simplified means of showing the stages in basketball participation, competition and tournament.

Aussie Hoops is the name of our introductory program for primary school aged children. This is often the first time basketball is played.

Miniball is a fun, social competition for primary school aged children and is the next step up from Aussie Hoops. Schools generally offer miniball as a sports option for children and create teams to play in the local centre offering miniball. This is also often the first time parents or caregivers are introduced to the sport and is a great time to begin getting involved in coaching.

Local / Social Competitions are generally the first scored competitions experienced by players and are often played at a local Recreation Centre. To get involved in Social Basketball a player would normally join an existing team at a local centre or organise a group of friends and / or colleagues to create a new team. The level of play in social competitions can be from the real beginner to semi-elite. Social competitions are normally offered in U12, U14, U16, U18, Senior and Mixed (Men and Women).

Representative Basketball is the term used to describe players playing in a highly organised competition consisting of coaches, team managers and higher standard players.

Talent Identification (TI) is the term used to describe the means to identify players that have the potential to play at a very high level. Talent Identification can lead to players being offered scholarships at the National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP) run at the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) or positions on State Teams.

State Team positions are offered to the players in the state that have been identified at TI camps or high level representative competitions. South Australia has State Teams in the U16, U18, U20 and Ivor Burge (Intellectually Disabled) National Championships organised by Basketball Australia.

Players that excel in State Teams and in the NITCP at SASI can be selected to go to the AIS in Canberra, which offers Australia’s highest level of elite development.

Players that are identified through the AIS and / or performance in State Teams can be offered positions in national junior squads (World U17, U19 and U23 Championships).

Players can then advance to the WNBL or NBL and / or may be selected to represent Australia in International competitions on the Boomers (men) or Opals (Women) teams.

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