This weekend's launch of the Indigenous Community Basketball League (ICBL) at Dubbo was always going to be special but a major announcement on Friday is set to take the competition to another level.
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Indigenous Basketball Australia (IBA), founded by Australian NBA star Patty Mills, is hosting opening ceremonies for its ICBL competitions on Sunday, with the NSW event to be staged at Sportsworld.
The league has been designed to provide a pathway for the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths.
It will be aimed at under-14s and will be run on Thursday Island, plus in Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin, Perth, and Dubbo.
On Friday, it was announced the NBA will support the IBA this year.
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The NBA will integrate it's Jr. NBA program into the IBA and international coaches will feature it in a camp at the Gold Coast in April.
On top of that, up to two boys and two girls from the ICBL will earn a chance to take part in the Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia-Pacific athlete selection pathway camp later this year.
"Basketball as a sport has brought me happiness, joy, education and a real sense of purpose and perspective," Mills said.
"It has changed my world and shaped the person I am today. However, not everyone has had the same opportunities as I have, which is why I'm so dedicated to using my platform, my profile and my voice to develop innovative programs like IBA, which will allow my people to really own their story.
"I have spent over 10 years in the NBA, an organisation that has not only supported and championed me as an athlete, but celebrated my cultural identity as an Australian, an Indigenous man of the land. I am ecstatic and filled with immense pride to have the world's most renowned professional basketball league join forces with IBA - the work we are going to do together will make a real impact to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths."
Each player competing in the ICBL will be vying for selection in their state side ahead of next year's National Indigenous Basketball Tournament.
Weekly competitions will be interspersed with motivational sessions where role models will share their stories with the aspiring young basketballers.
The opening ceremony at Sportsworld starts at 12pm on Sunday.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
