Page 8 - 2022 BWA ANNUAL REPORT

THE CEO’S REPORT
Robert Clement
Although the commencement of 2022 had its challenges, with border closures and Covid restrictions, our sport has again risen to the occasion by showing great determination in getting things back with another year of strong performances across all areas of business.
Player numbers continue to grow, surpassing 2021’s record number to having over 65,000 registered members. Thank you to all clubs and associations on their fantastic effects in keeping
the wheels turning and providing participation opportunities. We have over 75 registered affiliated associations from far north of WA in Kununurra to the far south in Esperance, all of which do an amazing job of representing Basketball WA in the local community.
PARTICIPATION
We continued to consolidate our regional delivery partnering with our local Associations. We currently have regional development officers in Kimberley, Midwest and Gascoyne, Goldfields, Southwest and Great Southern.
Our school programs and Aussie hoops community programs have continued
to go from strength to strength, with numbers growing every year, and the School Slam Series and Champion Cup growing expanding each year. The Aussie Hoops program also saw the completion of a national review in 2022, which resulted in Basketball Australia focusing on changes to be made in areas which include a branding refresh, and a greater emphasis on delivery on time, to name a few.
Our reach and impact on the local community continues to grow through 3X3 basketball with over 40 community programs delivered across the state, as well as being played as an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport, including for Wheelchair 3x3. The modified version of the game has real street appeal
and continues to gain a following and momentum.
PERFORMANCE
The commencement of 2022 saw another challenging year for high performance due to travel and Covid restrictions, however our performance
team did a fantastic job training, selecting, and preparing the teams to go to nationals. We had some great results with our U16 boys winning bronze at home. We also won gold again with our Kevin Combs Cup team and bronze with our Ivor Burge team.
The selection and trials of athletes is
never easy and we are receiving record numbers of kids trialing out for state teams. Credit must go to the team of volunteer coaches and selectors assisting our sub elite programs for the amount of tireless and largely thankless time that they spend weekend after weekend with the various squads.
ASSOCIATION DEVELOPMENT
Our Association Development team continued to provide support and guidance to our associations in what is becoming an ever-challenging environment with legal and governance issues and expectations form the community rising all the time
and making the gesture of volunteering
an ever more complex art. I thank all our associations for the wonderful work they do in the community being ambassadors for the sport of basketball.
PERTH LYNX
During the 2022 WNBL season, it was exciting to see Perth Lynx were back to
a regular home and away season after another Covid impacted year in 2021/2022. Even though the season commenced slowly for the Perth Lynx, the team showed strength and determination throughout
the season, finishing in fourth place in the WNBL ladder. Although they could not win their semi-final, they fought with great courage until the end. Thank you to the members and all involved in showing such fantastic support at the games with high attendances when playing at home. Thank you also to all the sponsors in particular our major sponsor and partner Northern Star Resources.
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
WA is one of the leading states in the integration of the wheelchair basketball,
with a national and state based development program in conjunction
with WAIS and Basketball Australia,
as well as ownership and consolidation
of the national league teams under the Wheelcats banner. We were very proud in 2022 to bring on the Insurance Commission (Belt Up) as a sponsor and supporter of these this program.
COMPETITIONS
Our competitions continue with their strong rise in growth and interest with the State Championships recording it’s best ever attendance again, along with year-on- year growth of the country championships and the continued strength of the WABL competition. In club and association land more and more kids are trying out for WABL creating a significant and ever growing demand for the competition within the metro area.
NBL1 West took the league to new heights as part of a national brand. The NBL1
has created a pathway for athletes to the Australian National Leagues and offered unprecedented exposure to the league. The NBL1 West competition saw all 302 games from the 14 clubs, live streamed with commentary and graphics overlay. Over 15 million minutes of NBL1 West were live streamed around the world
by over 780,000 viewers. To cap off
such a successful season, it was a real sweetener to see our two own WA teams (Rockingham Flames men’s team and Warwick Senators women’s team) take home both victories at the National finals. Well done WA!
FACILITIES
The need to continually expand facility and court numbers continues to put pressure on our resources and the demand for basketball at the local community level,
it is encouraging to see progress in new facilities in Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and the South West however there are over 20 additional centres and growth areas that will be the focus of our efforts over the coming years.
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