On Thursday the 1st of June, students from SEDA Basketball Class and SAASTA Basketball Academy met at St Clair Recreational Centre to play a friendly basketball game against one another in celebration of Reconciliation Week.
The day began at 10:00am with all students meeting on court two of St Clair. As everyone arrived, courts were available for shooting around on while teachers and students prepared what was going to happen. Due to the low number of girl’s, our teachers collaborated and decided that we would do two games of mixed five on five basketball. One game was played on court one and the other was played on court two.
Throughout the games, some great basketball was put on display and all students got a shot on the court. There were three games played between the two teams. The last being a joint game with all students from both courts playing in the one. Even though there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the benches, the atmosphere was awesome. Everyone was in good spirits and wasn’t too competitive. The games were fun and brought out the important parts of basketball which is the enjoyment of the game.
During the day, we were also extremely lucky to have special visitors from the Adelaide Lightning. General Manager Reese Turner and Adelaide Lightning MVP Steph Talbot. This was a huge surprise for everyone and was truly amazing to speak too such a role model in the female basketball world. Steph told us about the struggles she has been going through since her knee injury and how she stays on track when hurdles come in the way. Playing in the WNBA, she told us that injuries such as hers can be very difficult to overcome not only physically but mentally. Talbot told us that the best thing you can do for yourself is to continue to look for the positives. Even though she’s going through a tough injury right now, knowing she will get back on the court playing the game she loves is what keeps her going.
This was a truly inspiring day for everyone and a great way to celebrate Reconciliation Week. The students and teachers from both SEDA and SAASTA wish to make this an annual thing and build the competition up from here. All students were extremely grateful for the opportunity they were given and were very thankful for the chats they had with Reese and Steph. Overall, the Basketball Reconciliation Cup was a very positive day with some amazing experiences that students look forward to happening again in the future.
Written By Bella Schaftenaar