International Flavour Added to Aussie Day Event
For the first time in the history of Mackay Basketball, the Code Bar & Nightclub Australia Day Carnival will have a competing international team from Papua New Guinea.
The Lae Blazers will be one of the sixteen men's teams battling it out on the Candlestick Park hardwood for a piece of the division two men's prize-money on offer.
The team which contains players between the ages of 18-21, have been training for the annual Mackay Basketball showcase since early November.
Lae Blazers Head Coach and PNG Basketball legend Lawrence Lahari said the team had been working hard up to five times a week in preparation for the intense competition.
"We have been varying our sessions from long distance running to sprint work for our fitness, while also making sure we get in a few sessions on-court each week also," Lahari said.
"Our players are very pumped about the tournament and playing in Australia, especially when the majority of our team have never been outside of Papua New Guinea before."
"All of our players minus a few, have never played on an indoor basketball court, so it's definitely exciting for us to be travelling to Mackay to have some fun playing the game we love."
"It will be a tremendous experience for these young men and hopefully we can win a few games along the way," Lahari added.
Mackay Basketball General Manager Joel Khalu said it was fantastic that a team from Papua New Guinea had nominated for the Australia Day competition.
"I know Lawrence and his staff have been working extremely hard in Lae securing sponsors for the team so they could make the long journey down to Mackay," Khalu said.
"It's definitely a 'feel good' story when you consider the fact that a lot of these young men have never had the opportunity to travel outside of Papua New Guinea or even their hometown's of Lae."
"That's what this tournament is all about, bringing in teams from different places to have some fun playing Basketball together."
"The Blazers will have some extremely gifted athletes that can play above the rim which will make them an exciting team to watch throughout the tournament."
"Hopefully the Papua New Guinean community in Mackay can come out in large numbers to support the boys, which will make it all that more special for them," Khalu added.
The Code Bar & Night Club Australia Day Carnival begins on Wednesday night at Candlestick Park and will continue each day through to Sunday when the Grand Finals will take place. There are six division one men's teams, sixteen division two men's teams and ten women's teams that will be battling it out for $6000 in prize-money.
Last Modified on 18/12/2013 17:26
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