Feb
01
2018
STAND TALL ALL STARS WIN THIRD PLACE AT NEWINGTON CLASSIC
The Charity Bounce Stand Tall All Stars competed in the Newington Classic last week. This year’s All Stars team was made up of young men aged 14-17 from diverse cultural backgrounds, including Aboriginal, Syrian, Turkish, Sudanese, Samoan, Cook Islander/New Zealand, Indian, Sri Lankan & Australian.
The Stand Tall All Stars program is designed to provide access to ‘out of reach’ opportunities in the basketball world and to support players beyond the on-court competitions to achieve off the court outcomes related to education, employment, health & wellbeing, and professional basketball pathways.
The team trained hard over the last month under the expert coaching and training of Head Coach Eban Hyams (player with the Indian Professional League and former NBL player), Assistant Coach Mahesh Padmanabhan (played in the Indian Professional League and been training with the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks players), and Cal Bruton (Stand Tall Program Director, and basketball legend). They also welcomed special opportunities to meet former Harlem Globetrotter Tracy Williams, and spend time with the Illawara Hawks and 36ers coaches and players (read more about these visits here).
The young men played hard and came in 3rd place. This included an amazing overtime win against a great team. After being down for most of the game, the Stand Tall All Star’s point guard hit a game tying three-pointer with one second left in the game! This shot forced the game to overtime where the team gained control and sealed the win.
A big thanks to Stand Tall Director Cal Bruton for inspiring our boys with some great motivational words, as well as Steve Dunn (Charity Bounce Chairman), Max Schroeder (Charity Bounce Board Member), and Sandra Gugger for their invaluable support for the boys during the tournament.
Stand Tall All Star team practicing on the Illawarra Hawks floor
Stand Tall All Star team huddle during practice game led by Head Coach Eban Hyams
