Hoops

A.I.S players

Why would the AIS recommend that players not go to the US colleges? Ummm - maybe because if they did then the AIS would be seen as irrelevant and would lose funding and prestige, and people might be out of jobs?

The AIS wants to be seen as always having the cream of the Aussie crop. Unfortunately, that also makes it very political when it comes to getting funding and keeping positions and hanging onto quality players.

Why would the AIS recommend that players not go to the US colleges? Ummm - maybe because if they did then the AIS would be seen as irrelevant and would lose funding and prestige, and people might be out of jobs?

The AIS wants to be seen as always having the cream of the Aussie crop. Unfortunately, that also makes it very political when it comes to getting funding and keeping positions and hanging onto quality players.

Rock - you make a good point BUT I'd suggest it's probably about the same as kids who go to Uni over here. Again, we have a structural issue where our clubs/Associations, State programs and national programs are so top-centric that unless you area superstar you pursue your sport at your own expense/desire.

If you have the resources to pay upfront for your Uni, pay for your opportunties to play and practice, and place no little value on the life experience, then staying at home and goin to an Australian school is a better option.

However, if you want to emerge from College with a degree, some life experience, and a basketball experience beyond what is available is here (and I said experience becasue the development is not necessarily better depending on your situation) and be largely debt-free, then the US is your only option (short of being Liz, Loz et al and earning megabucks in Europe and Asia.

With a little forethought, BA could capitalise on both pathways and benefit enormously. Imagine a National U24 Championships instead of U20's. The U20's are no longer a selction tool and incresingly kids are pulling out because of the cost and 'championship fatigue'. This tournament would be a great way to re-engage those returning from College and also the numerous 'late-bloomers' out there who never played State juniors. It would also provide an incentive and a pathway for clubs and associations to maintain contact with these players for their return and to maintain them as valued parts of the basketball community. These second-tier players are the backbone of our sport at a grassroots level - they coach our junior teams well, they play for ABL and SEABL and State league for long periods, they support NBL and WNBL programs and right now - we currently go without their skills for up to twenty years between when they leave for college or graduate juniors until they have their own kids who are entering the sport.

There are many pathways - unfortunately BA is only intersted in the one (and there is only one) which leads to the Boomers and Opals :(.

Wow- where to start? Rather than respond to everything raised here let me make a few comments.

Before I start let me declare my self-interest. I have a daighter who has been through the system and no, did not get a scholarship invite to the AIS. But having coached with State teams and NBL teams and played at NBL level myself I think I have a reasonable level of experience to draw upon.

If you trawl through my preious posts you will find some which support the talent ID process and the way it works. It is fair to say my view has changed.

Stuff I've seen on the girls side of the game.

A group of players identified following the National U16 Champs which would remain unchallenged for the remainder of their junior career. Coaches were not allowed to bring players into the group from outside.

Players selected in National teams who had not played a full schedule or completed a full National Team camp for two years prior to selection. To be fair, some of those players have ultimately delivered (but so would you if you were completely confident in your selection and were given unlimited opportunities).

National U20 squads named two weeks prior to the National Champs (makes the team seem particularly accessible to those outside the circle - not).

BA overturning the selection of players from outside the circle who the coach wanted included.

Players selected in the Boomers for a World Championships and then told by the Head Coach that he wasn't their pick and wouldn't play.

Families deliberately and successfully forming relationships which ensured their child was part of the circle.

AIS players delivering less than 3ppg, 5rpg at sub .250 shooting being selected in National squads (as a 6' 'big').

Which I understand all sounds like sour grapes but if we expect Australia to develop, then we have reason to expect better from our so-called leaders.

To those who point out the high number of AIS grads who make up our National squads, can I politely ask if it is causal or circumstantial? Do the AIS prodcue the best athletes because of what they do or do they produce high numbers of Boomers/Opals because they get the best athletes who get the best opportunities?

Compare the pathways for AIS and non-AIS kids - which path do you want to be on? Yet the difference in talent is often marginal. Given that difference in talent is marginal, is it not to be expected that the player who plays international tournaments, lives and breathes basketball full-time with no-cost access to facilities and equipment as well as sports science support should go on to produce at a higher level.

Patty Mills - AIS grad or St Mary's grad. For me the answer is obvious and is a bit of everything. Until the AIS start taking benchies from the Nationals and producing Australian teams who succeed internationally with those players we'll never really know what sort of job the AIS is doing.

But I have to say unless you are part of the 'chosen few' (at age 14 in my daughter's case) then the pathways and opportunities in Australian basketball are pretty limited. My daughter has been 'lobbied' to stay in Australia and not go to college, to which the obvious question is why would I? To be training fodder for a WNBL program while I pay for my education and the opportunity to play basketball?

At which point I am sure the 'believers' among you will say 'who - give us proof' to which I say you will either believe me or not and whether you do or don't is of no real concern to me. I would also say that unfortunately the names do not matter as I would suggest there are any number of people who could tell the same stories - only the names would be changed, and therein lies the problem.

'Picking winners' works only for those coaches who do the picking and are then in a position to ensure their picks are correct and never challenged. It doesn't work for the sport and it doesn't work for the kids. It certainly doesn't work for the kids on the outside but ultimately, it doesn't work for the kids on the inside. Otherwise why is the most talented kid in her age group and the latest 'next Lauren Jackson' now playing second-tier netball.

Ben Simmons isn't even at the AIS anymore, he left.