Power Assist launches improvement review into Victorian Championship Division

Power Assist has conducted a Friday night basketball competition for the past 37 years, always offering the title of Victorian Champions to the team who won the seasons Championship Division Grand Final. We have had many, many young men and women proudly earn this title.

Following several discussions with players and supporters from the current Championship Division, the Board of Power Assist have commenced a review focussed on improving our top level competition for all players / teams.  The review will remain open allowing and encouraging a wide range of input – suggestions for improvements can be emailed to Sally at admin@powerassist.org.au

We have already spoken to most of the players involved and have received several positive suggestions.  Our Board Chair, Sally, is keen to remind everyone of several important considerations:

  • The Championship Division is our highest level and should be, not only challenging for our best players, but an aspirational goal for the next level.
  • The young men and women who are talented enough to play at this level are also, sometimes with support, very capable of contributing to and deciding the changes they wish to see – so a full engagement with the players is definitely part of this review.
  • Players will ultimately decide which team they want to play for – our Power Assist committee will often get involved in approving transfers between teams (just to ensure overloading does not occur) but in essence we will not “break apart” teams and dictate who you have to play for – especially we will not engage in breaking apart teams of mates who have played together for years. One of the best parts about basketball is the opportunity to play with your friends.
  • We have 3 teams, each with a player who has competed at the pinnacle of the pathway offered for our community (Frazer, Danni and Evie have all represented Australia at the international level). Their commitment to their individual skills and fitness is admirable and they provide fabulous role models for other players.  Take every opportunity to learn from these players, as we are very proud to have supported them and pleased they they remain committed to Power Assist.

On Friday 28th June, the Championship Division played at Auburn High and here’s a few observations from our committee:

  • Grizzlies V Raiders was a fantastic game to watch – with only a few goals separating the team right up until the last few minutes, the large group of supporters were treated to a very exciting game:
    • Thank you to Christian who is taking on the role of playing coach for the Grizzlies. Christian did a brilliant job of on-court coaching, and the Grizzlies responded with some excellent passage of play, some terrific passing / team work and great shooting.
    • Also thanks to Claire and Alex for filling in to make up the numbers.
    • Fabulous full court pressure was applied by Danni and Tara – what a defensive team! This Raiders duo made it very difficult for the Grizzlies to get the ball out of the back court.  Well done ladies!!
  • Rogue Flare V Roar – this game ended up as a friendly scratch match, played with great sportsmanship (some 4×4 and some 3×3):
    • Although Roar held the lead for the whole game, there was a great flurry of scoring in the last few minutes which had all spectators on the edge of their seats – terrific shooting and teamwork from both teams.
    • The Coll brothers were deadly on the boards combining for a total of 42 points including 3-pointers.
    • Congratulations to Caleb for his excellent defence against Frazer. It was great to see another Rogue Flare player enjoying this challenge.
    • Although a forfeit win to Rogue Flare, both teams enjoyed the opportunity to try different offensive moves and with a score of 61-60 it certainly demonstrated some excellent shooting skills.

Although we all know the courts at Auburn High are not as nice as those at MLC, having the Championship Division played at Auburn gave a great opportunity to our Div 3 and 4 players to stay back and see these two games – and there were some very complimentary comments and another group of Power Assist basketballers who have seen what’s possible….

We’d like to congratulate Jack on umpiring his first Championship Division games -Jack did a terrific job.  He commented at the end of the night, that it was very, very different to umpiring division 3 and 4.  Our Volunteer referees are amazing and allow the competition to continue week after week – so, huge thanks to everyone one of them.

If you have any ideas to help improve the Championship Division, we’d love to hear from you.  You can email Sally at admin@powerassist.org.au  to start a conversation.