Page 44 - BWA Annual Report 2019

Aussie Hoops
This was a year of significant growth for the Aussie Hoops national program. The program continues to expand in WA with more than 3,500 registered Auss- ie Hoops participants in 2019 (our highest rate ever). Nationally, Western Australia now ranks third, behind only Victoria and New South Wales, for Aussie Hoops participation.
AUSSIE HOOPS PARTICIPATION
consultation with Basketball WA, made the critical decision to rebuild this key element of the program and to find improvements in terms of delivery,
quality and promotional branding of the new participant packs. The result has been a complete redesign of the Aussie Hoops participant packs, to
be sourced through a new supplier who will be able to deliver the pack directly to the participant’s home address. This change will be implemented in 2020 and is hoped will result in a vastly improved introduction to the program for our new little ballers.
We welcomed 7 new Aussie Hoops Local Centres, who signed up to be part of the national program in 2019. This included the Warwick Senators, who significantly boosted our metropolitan numbers, as well as several new enthusiastic country centres.
Congratulations to the following metropolitan Associations for running the largest Aussie Hoops programs over the past year: Perth Redbacks, Cockburn Cougars and Rockingham Flames. Also worth a special mention is the Aces Basketball Club in Bunbury, which runs a large Aussie Hoops program, that is by far the biggest in the country areas.
Aussie Hoops caters mainly for 5-10 year olds, with the vast majority in Pre-Primary through to Year 3
at school. Most Aussie Hoopers are brand new to basketball. They then go on to join our Associations and participate in domestic basketball. So it is imperative that Aussie Hoops provides these children with a proper grounding in the game. With this in mind, Aussie Hoops made the transition to a size 4 basketball midway through 2019. This decision was based on the latest research that found that young children were better able to execute the
key skills of the game with a smaller ball. This led to greater success and greater enjoyment at a young- er age. It is hoped that making the move to the size 4 ball will allow Aussie Hoops kids to focus on proper technique at this early stage in their development.
Over the years the Aussie Hoops program has faced ongoing logistical challenges with its participant packs, which includes a ball and a bib for new registrations. In 2019, Basketball Australia, in
42 BWA ANNUAL REPORT 2018
Boomer’s Aussie Hoops Activation
One of the highlights of the year was being able to give some lucky Aussie Hoopers a once in a lifetime experience at the Australian Boomers vs Canada international games, which were held here in Perth.
Our Aussie Hoops ambassadors formed a guard
of honour for the Boomers players as they were introduced onto court. They then played a game on the RAC Arena court during half time entertain- ment. All whilst watching the game from some of the best seats in the house. You couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces!