The 2024/25 FDP and SDP cycle has been one of our most successful to date. For the remaining weeks of programming, we are determined to finish things off strong, but we also wanted to take the time to reflect on the last 12 months in programming ahead of the impending 2025/26 trials.
We pride ourselves on not just developing basketball players, but developing people and have continued to invest in our athlete’s holistic development:
- We have expanded our partnership with Leap Health, who not only provide physio services at a discounted rate to our athletes but provide physio coverage for our Country Cup and State Teams. As a part of our partnership, Leap Health share their expertise with our SDP athletes and presented at SDP Camp #2 on Workloads and Injury Prevention.
- Our SDP athletes continue to have access to the Sportly.Me application, which helps them monitor and manage their workloads and wellbeing.
- We have held several personal growth sessions with our FDP and SDP athletes, including a PPEP Talk at SDP Camp #1 for our female athletes, Referee Workshops for our U14 athletes and have had MyState Bank Chief Goal Setter and NBL Champion, Clint Steindl, talk with our SDP athletes about goal setting and resilience.
We have taken things up a notch with the number of resources shared with athletes, coaches and families during sessions and throughout the cycle:
- We have incorporated video sessions into our camps and weekly sessions. Footage has centred around reinforcing feedback/focus points for sessions and sharing examples of Tasmanian athletes performing at the National and International level.
- We have shared endless documents and videos with our athletes, families and coaches around practice habits, warm-ups, skill development and particularly shooting. We hope that these resources have helped grow the understanding of what we are covering in sessions and help give the athletes something to work on at home and during the school holidays.
We have made our technical focus points clear, have invested in these areas and are seeing good results:
- We shared technical observations after our January Development Tours, Tri-Series Tournaments and other Development Camps. This was to be transparent in the feedback from these events and make our intentions for upcoming sessions clear.
- We have successfully transitioned to a new offensive system, which links closely to our style of play and northern star. Within the system, athlete decision making is at the forefront, with athletes encouraged to be aggressive while making good team orientated decisions.
- We maximised our time on the floor at FDP and SDP Camps, by incorporating warm-ups/athletic development, shooting and plenty of competitive play that translates directly to game situations.
- Shooting has been our #1 area of focus for the cycle, as we work towards being the best shooting state in the Country. We have developed resources that ease the athletes cognitive load when working on their shot (MR HEFP) and have invested more time working on shooting at sessions and camps (including the addition of High-Level Shooting Sessions for our SDP athletes).
- Skill Development remains an area of investment, and we continue to offer Skills Block sessions to our FDP and SDP athletes.
We have continued to invest in coach development across the State:
- Our Basketball Development Officers participate in regular PD sessions, learning from the best coaches in Tasmania and Australia. We ensure our programs remain modern, utilising innovative skill development practices and contemporary basketball concepts, all of which is aligned with Basketball Australia.
- It was the second year of our State Coach Development Program, which provides our State Coaches with Professional Development from industry leaders. Presenters this year included Paul Gorris & Kennedy Kereama.
- We are in our fourth iteration of the Coach Acceleration Initiative, which provides year-long development for established and up-and-coming coaches. Every State Coach in 2025 has either previously been or is currently a member of this program.
- We have provided more opportunity and support to our Network Coaches this cycle than ever before. Network Coaches have regularly led segments of practice at weekly sessions and at camps and have been provided with feedback/reflection afterwards.
We have continued to offer opportunities for our athletes to participate in fantastic development tournaments, both in Tasmania and on the mainland:
- All FDP/SDP athletes played in 3 Rounds of Tri-Series Tournaments across the State. This year saw the introduction of the ‘Tri-Series Cup’ which is aimed at increasing the competitive spirit of games, while maintaining a focus on processes as well as outcomes. These tournaments also saw all three of our NBL1 Clubs compete against our U18 State Teams, which provided fantastic preparation for all involved -a great example of the pathway in motion.
- 12 Tasmanian teams played at the Country Cup, while 2 teams played at the Southern Cross Challenge in January. We also have 4 teams gearing up to play at the U14 Club Championships in September. These tournaments offer our athletes with the best possible exposure to high-level Basketball on the mainland, where the focus for all teams involved is purely about development.
- Our U16, U18 and U20 State Teams continue to punch above their weight at National Championships. This is a testament to the selection process, the team’s preparation, but also the pathways we have in place here in Tasmania.
We have expanded what we offer to more athletes:
- Our second year of the Emerging Program was a massive success, with more offerings provided to these athletes than in year 1. This included a Statewide camp at the beginning of the cycle, and the opportunity to compete with SDP athletes in the January “Open Gym” sessions. We are pleased to have had over 50 athletes work their way up from the Emerging Program into FDP/SDP in the last 12months.
- Through our partnership with Variety, we have established the Shoot for the Stars Scholarship program, which has made our programs more accessible with the scholarship recipients receiving meaningful and fulfilling support to participate in FDP and SDP.
- For our NPP athletes, we have provided more feedback, video and analysis than ever before. These athletes have been tested in a variety of game play environments (3×3, SDP Select Camp, March NPP Camp Showcase and against the TSS All-Stars). Building on this, we have incorporated an additional camp for our NPP athletes for the upcoming cycle.
- We also have a new partnership that is set to be announced, which will provide our program families the right information, support and opportunities to play College Basketball in the USA, if they aspire to.
We continue to provide, listen to and act on feedback:
- All SDP and NPP athletes had a sit-down feedback session with their regions BDO at the start of the cycle.
- All program athletes received technical observations and feedback following Tri-Series Round 2, and all program athletes received an outline of feedback/focus points for the remainder of the cycle in week 1 of term 2, 2025.
- We have offered exit interviews to all NPP athletes, and all graduating SDP athletes. These interviews are designed to gain insight into what it is like being an athlete in the program, and capture feedback for future cycles.
- Our Basketball Development Officers provide weekly feedback to all athletes in session and provide personalised feedback and check-ins to athletes prior to sessions.
- We have been mindful of feedback from last cycles survey, and have acted on the key themes, particularly around coach development, Tri-Series (enhancing the competitive spirit in games, reducing the number of games played against own region) and providing more direction/feedback to athletes (specifically around warm-ups and athletic development).
We are looking forward to finishing the cycle strong and will then look ahead to trials and the next cycle.
