I was at the Pacific Slam for the first time this January with the family watching my boy play for Vic Country against NSW Metro in the 15 boys final.
Great game, 33 all at 3/4 time but the Vic Country boys pushed ahead and won the Cup in grand fashion, ending up undefeated and looking forward to Nationals in 2012.
A shame about Port Macquarie being so expensive, it was a great place for a holiday and wonderful basketball was played, but for Victorian teams playing against some teams not of so high a standard I guess a decision had to be made.
That means this level of competition will now be played closer to the Victorian/NSW/SA borders, in Albury/Wodonga and Ballarat or maybe Bendigo...
Nationals will probably continue to be shared more evenly, but this is a big country and we all struggle to find the money to pay for kids playing basketball at the highest levels.
If our kids were footballers sponsored by the AFL they would get most everything paid for.
So maybe we need to look further than at local tour organisers and ask questions about who actually runs basketball at the highest level in this country and how can we find more dollars to put towards elite junior development!