Members of the Basketball Neighborhood Recognised

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Basketball Australia wish to congratulate all members of its neighborhood who acquired honours on Thursday from the Governor-Basic together with Tim Duggan OAM, Ashley Donaldson OAM, Sally Duncan OAM and Stephen Cornelissen AM.

All passionate and devoted members of the basketball household, every deserving recipient has made excellent contributions in the neighborhood, with this recognition a testomony to their laborious work.

Tim Duggan – Warramungu and Nyikina man – acquired the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to youth and sport. He turned the primary participant from the Northern Territory to play within the NBL in 1996 and went on to ascertain the Hoops 4 Well being Program in 2002. This program has been positively contributing to First Nations communities throughout Northern Australia ever since.

“I really feel humbled, I considered who nominated me, after which the considered my Grandparents who had been part of the Stolen Era, and the way proud they’d be, however they’re nonetheless with me on my journey, guiding us and main and dreaming within the spirit of the sport,” Duggan stated.

“I wish to use this achievement as a catapult to focus on the problems which might be occurring within the North, as a result of a variety of the hurdles that First Nation individuals are confronted with is a product of inter-generational trauma that has impacted our individuals since colonisation.

“We’ve been doing a variety of work because the inception of Well being 4 Hoops, and with a community of individuals together with Peter Lonergan, Paddy Stephensen, Billy Johnstone and former Minister for Sport within the Northern Territory, Mr. Matthew Bonson, we’ve all had enter alongside the way in which to generate useful change throughout the wider neighborhood.”

Specializing in trauma-informed teaching as some extent of distinction, Hoops 4 Well being is an organisation of First Nations excellence and strives to make an impression on the well-being of First Nations individuals utilizing basketball as a car to ignite constructive change.

“It’s additionally not simply younger individuals, there’s a spectrum that stems from youngsters via to adults, and we use basketball as a software to drive our function and have an opportunity to impression the course of somebody’s life, and if only one individual that believes in you – that’s all you want.

“Steve McGugan and Doug Garvie had been two coaches that believed in me, in addition to my father who constructed me 4 basketball rings from scratch, and with their assist, I used to be in a position to see the world and create a dwelling via taking part in basketball and servicing the neighborhood.”

Sport performs an integral position in not simply bodily well being, however as a pillar to carry communities collectively and promote social interplay and inclusion. With roughly seven million Australians dwelling remotely, they’re confronted with geographical boundaries that Hoops 4 Well being is striving to deal with.

“We wish to proceed to department out far and vast to un-earth all the wonderful expertise that’s on the market, as a result of there may be a lot untapped potential within the distant communities and if we put money into these locations, then we will attain the expertise.”

Former team-mate and The First Indigenous Australian to play within the Nationwide Basketball Affiliation, Nathan Jawai added:

“To be recognised with the Medal for the Order of Australia (OAM) is a testomony to Timmy’s work and time over the previous 30 plus years. Timmy has been a trailblazer for the game and his achievements on and off the basketball courtroom via selling cultural security has been implausible.

“He performed in an period within the Nineties the place a younger man from Darwin made it on the highest stage of the game in Australia regardless of the boundaries he needed to face in his journey. He then took that to a different stage making a program (Hoops 4 Well being) that provides hope and inspiration to our youth. I’m proud to have shared the journey as a former teammate and now as a coach of Hoops 4 Well being.”

In the meantime, Basketball Victoria Life Member, Ashley Donaldson has been making an impression in Bendigo for the very best a part of 60 years.

Since he began treading the boards with some team-mates from the Golden Sq. Soccer Membership in 1960, Donaldson has change into considered one of basketball’s best contributors. Whether or not it’s with Bendigo or Eaglehawk associations, Victorian squads or at a Basketball Victoria Jamboree, he has proven exceptional dedication to the sport.

Ashley Donaldson. Image: Brendan McCarthy

For extra info on Donaldson’s achievements, go to the Basketball Victoria web site.

Sally Duncan has additionally been making her presence felt within the basketball neighborhood for greater than twenty years. Because the supervisor of the Australia Pearls since 1999 and supervisor of the Ivor Burge (Males’s and Ladies’s groups) from 1997-2077, her accolades and achievements over time embrace:

Awards and Recognition
• Allan Ashe Award, Basketball Victoria, 2019
• Volunteer Administrator of the Yr, VicSport, 2014
• Inductee, Basketball Australia Corridor of Fame, 2007
• Volunteer of the Yr, Confederation of Australian Sport, 2006
• VIRTUS Worldwide Unsung Hero, 2022