Tautiaki Basketball EBOP

14/11/2025

Mōrena e te whānau, arohamai for such short notice but clinic two that was pencilled in for āpōpō (Sunday 16 Nov) is postponed, please stand by for new deets.

21/10/2025

⚡ E te whānau. We gotta talk about "bench duty" ⚡

Fact: whether you like it or not, if your kids stay in this game, you *will* end up on bench duty 😅 (...and if your kids are playing at HoopNation Tauraga Classic over Labour weekend, chances are, you're on - in a couply days! 😬😬)

If you're the whānau of a player, check with the team manager. They probably already have a bench duty roster/plan for this weekend. If your name is there, you *must* be ready to go on the day and time allocated to you (or have successfully bribed someone to be there: ready, willing and able to cover you).

We know (for many of us) it's a bit terrifying and some of us have absolutely NO IDEA (.... or is that just me?) 🤔

And yip. People get craaaaazy about this stuff, cos it's super important. None of us wanna be That Person who seriously mucked something up. 🤬

💪A strong bench team is critical to keeping the game running smoothly. Knowing this part of basketball is an awesome way to tautoko players and for supportive whānau to be a critical part of the on-court action.

So nau mai, haere mai e te whānau! Come and join us at the next two clinics in November. We can go through the basics of bench duty, you'll have the chance to ask pātai in a safe and friendly environment, and we can all support each other to figure this stuff out, together. (...Now, if someone can please start by explaining to me what a "jump ball" is.... 😆)

THANKS again to our friends at Sport Bay of Plenty for all the help to run these clinics that benefit our EBOP players and their whānau. We couldn't do this without you! 👏

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21/10/2025

💰 Did you know? Refs at Hoop Nation earn $35 per game!

Our players who attended clinic one on Sunday and have been supported through the year to ref games at the school comps are now right on track to complete their Level One Referee qualifications after the next two clinics! 🙌🏽 Well done! Don't forget to do your homework and stay the course to the end.... 🤓

These clinics are growing players who understand the game better *and* future paid officials.

Thanks to Sport Bay of Plenty for helping to facilitate this need in our EBOP community. It’s awesome to see our rangatahi building skills that will open up more oppourtunities and even career pathways in the sport they love. 🏀🧡💲

📅 Know someone who needs their refereeing qualifications but missed clinic one? Watch this space for clinics two and three coming up in November. You can learn all about how to start or continue your journey towards getting your ticket, too.

21/10/2025

💥 For those that missed out on our first of three clinics on Sunday at the Whakatāne War Memorial Stadium, here's a few highlights from an awesome day.....

🌿 Morning kōrero: coaches and whānau came together to talk background, about how we can grow basketball locally. More participation. Fewer barriers. Stronger pathways to top-level competition, and LOTS more opportunities to collaborate, tautoko, awhi, and support all our EBOP players to achieve thier goals.

🍕🧁 The shared lunch was yum, but biggest thanks of all to the whānau who reminded players to "horoia ō ringaringa!" before getting stuck into the kai. No-one needs a bout of gastro this close to the biggest tournament of the year....

💬 Afternoon: Jared D led a powerful session on being a great team member. Mindset matters!

👟 Later: Mons, Peaches, and Nikia nailed an amazing workshop teaching our rangatahi and their supporting whānau how to do bench duty and grow as refs.

Every clinic is about building better players *and* better people. Thanks Sport Bay of Plenty for helping make it all happen. 🙏

21/10/2025

🏀 Attendance was awesome at Sunday's first clinic, but a little light from our U14s 😅

Don't forget, these sessions are **FREE** and fully funded by the good people at Sport Bay of Plenty 🙌🏽 so it's an incredible opportunity for our players to grow their game, confidence, and connections.

Next clinics:
📅 Sunday 16 Nov | 10.30am–2.30pm
📅 Saturday 22 Nov | 1–5pm

Know someone who didn't know? Tag our whānau who missed out, so they can be sure to get to the next ones.... especially our U14s.... 👇🏽

21/10/2025

Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou! 🧡

A big shoutout to all the players and whānau who showed up to support Clinic One on Sunday. What an awesome day of whakawhanaungatanga, learning and growth, both on and off the court! 🏀

It was so awesome to see so many familiar faces, as well as lots of new ones. I'm sure I can speak for all of us when I say a huge NGĀ MIHI NUI to the good people at Sport Bay of Plenty for all your help with making this happen. 🫶

Through the workshop, our players gained heaps of valuable skills and hopefully a bit of a confidence boost, just in time for HoopNation's Tauranga Classic tournament this weekend. They’ll be much stronger for it, and we know they’ll represent the eastern Bay of Plenty with pride. 💪🏽🔥

📣 Know a EBOP-based baller heading to Hoop Nation? Tag them below so we know who to support! 👇🏽

15/10/2025

Kia ora ballers,
please don't forget our first Tautiaki Basketball Whānau clinic this Sunday at the War Memorial hall. We need as many coaches, managers, and whānau of players as possible to attend, as we need to talk thru where we are up to as a club, where we hope to go from here, and see if we can fill a few of our gaps for managers, coaches, players and governance gurus. We'll also talk through the general basketball schedule, so if you are trying to get your head around kura kura/reps/Māoris/3x3/5x5/tournaments and everything else, we hope to be able to explain a bit more. We'll run through how to do basic reffing and also bench duties for those who are unsure, and we'll also look at our current funding sitch as well as opportunities and potential for the future. Nau mai haraemai e te whānau, PLEASE help us spread the word and just DM us if you have any pātai.
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06/10/2025