Basketball kids learn to pick themselves up

Media Release

Monday 17 June 2013

Basketball kids learn to pick themselves up from Bruton, Pledger and Flavell

The biggest names in New Zealand basketball had Gisborne kids spellbound yesterday [Sunday 16 June] as they shared tips on everything from alley oops to always staying positive, at the start of the SKYCITY Breakers Are You Ready to be a Champion Tour.

SKYCITY Breakers CJ Bruton, Alex Pledger and Jeremiah Trueman are here as well as head coach Dean Vickerman, assistant coach Judd Flavell, and Tall Black Hayden Allen. They’ve been brought here by Maori health organisation Turanga Health as positive role models for kids especially when it comes to making the right choices around alcohol and drug use.

After touching down at Gisborne Airport to the cheers of pint-sized fans with banners, the Breakers spent two hours at llminster Intermediate with 150 players and representatives from the Gisborne and Ngati Porou Basketball Associations, and Tolaga Bay.

Teenagers with a passion for basketball listened in awe to CJ Bruton and Alex Pledger as they spoke about leadership, values, and picking themselves up after challenging situations and games.

One of the great things about basketball is that the sport is able to reach across the whole community, says Bruton. “Every school has a court and there is so much you can do there – you don’t have to be in a team. You can work on your skills by yourself and work on different moves.” He told the kids they needed to learn how to take defeat as well as winning a game. “It’s not always easy – win a game, lose a game, you play well, you play bad – you just have to pick yourself up. The same goes for all sports, not just basketball.”

At 216cm Alex Pledger is New Zealand’s tallest sportsman but he didn’t find basketball, basketball found him. It literally pulled over to the side of the road and nabbed him as he was walking to Fraser High School in Hamilton, he told the kids. “I was16 years old and already 6 10,” said the gentle giant whose team mates call him Chief. The coach from a neighbouring high school was driving past and asked if he had considered playing basketball.

The SKYCITY Breakers players and coaches managed an intense two-hour training and skills session with the kids helping them with everything from offensive drills, alley oops and blocking.

Later in the afternoon 400 kids and their parents packed out YMCA Gisborne for an entertaining hour of games and challenges with the SKYCITY Breakers. Four-year-olds and their Breakers partners played rob-the-nest in front of the screaming crowd; teenagers had a chance to win basketballs and singlets by shooting for the net; and mums and dads showed off their best bounce passes and ball fakes as they took on the tall superstars.

Today [Monday 17 June] the SKYCITY Breakers take their skills road show to rural schools. At 6pm Turanga Health is hosting Breaking out the Big Guns: Dinner with the SKYCITY Breakers at the Cosmopolitan Club. The dinner offers guests a unique opportunity to listen to coach Vickerman discuss the SKYCITY Breakers’ recipe for success. A few tickets remain. Contact Turanga Health (06) 869 0457.

CJ Bruton talks to the basketball girls at Ilminster Image CreditLexi Green.

ENDS

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