Australia’s largest school sporting tournament tipped off today on the Gold Coast with 1700 basketballers competing across 145 teams.
The Footlocker Australian School Championships (ASC) which has been held in Victoria for the past decade has now been secured on the Gold Coast through Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and Major Events Gold Coast (MEGC). Minister for Tourism and Sport- Stirling Hinchliffe officially opened the Championships today with Gold Coast Deputy Mayor Donna Gates.
The Championships have a rich alumni including Olympians Lauren Jackson OAM, Patty Mills AM and Dante Exum.
Basketball Australia’s best High-Performance coaches will attend the Championships including Paul Goriss Australian Opals Assistant Coach and Robbie McKinlay- Centre of Excellence Head Coach Men’s Program.
Executive Director High Performance and Former Australian Opals Coach Jan Stirling AM is excited about the depth of talent coming up through the schools.
“The Footlocker Australian School Championships is an opportunity for the best emerging talent to showcase their skills in front of some of our countries best High-Performance coaches. Our junior teams are highly competitive on the world stage and our new generation of young stars Giddey, Daniels, Melbourne, Proctor and Borlase have already become household names.
The facilities on the Gold Coast were chosen as the training base for the Australian Opals before their bronze medal performance at the FIBA Women’s World Cup as they are second to none. Tournaments of this size cannot be held without the infrastructure for major events, and we congratulate Minister Hinchcliffe and Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate on their facilities.  We wish the athletes and coaches all the best for a great week of competition and look forward to seeing some great talent on display.”
The Footlocker Australian School Championships run from November 28 to December 2 at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre and the Carrara Indoor Sports Stadium.
Click here to head to the home of the Footlocker Australian School Championships for more.
Photo Credit: Nelson Kahler
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.