With 30+ teams at Nelson College, we cater for all ages and abilities in our basketball programme. Whether you are learning the game, playing for fun with your mates, or striving to be in our top competitive teams, we have a place for you.
We have a long and proud history of basketball at Nelson College, with many of our players going on to play for the Nelson Giants and the New Zealand Tall Blacks.
Coach
Captain of the Nelson Giants, Sam Dempster, is our Head Coach. How lucky are we to have someone of such quality on and off the court? Sam oversees our entire programme and will run additional skills sessions for our boys.
We will appoint Junior Competitive coaches, but we are always looking for parents to look after a team in the lower grades. No basketball experience is necessary – you just need to ensure all the players get a fair chance to play.
Important Dates
- Both the College and Men’s competitions will start in Term 2.
- Teams will be sorted by the end of Term 1.
Registration
- Sign-ups begin when school returns.
- Year 9 registrations are completed in PE class, usually in the first week.
- Year 10 and above register at the Sports Office from Week 2.
Cost (approximate at this stage)
- Tuesday night Premier Grade: $175
- Wednesday night College Grade: $160
Uniform
- Tuesday night Premier Grade – uniform provided.
- Wednesday College Competitive Grade – singlet provided; wear navy blue shorts.
- Wednesday Junior Grade – Nelson College reversible singlet must be purchased.
- Wednesday night Senior Social Grade – you can design and pay for your own singlets (all must be ordered through the Sports Office and must be a ProBrands uniform).
Senior Trials
- These will start in February.
- We will select a Senior A & B squad that will train together.
- There will likely be two teams playing on a Tuesday night.
- Wednesday College Grade Competitive teams will be sorted soon.
- The Senior A team will compete in the South Island Secondary Schools Tournament in September. This is a qualifier for the NZ Secondary Schools Nationals, held in Palmerston North during the Term 3 holidays.
Senior Social Teams
- Get your team together by the beginning of March.
- Grades: Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3.
Junior Trials
- These will start with Year 9 trials, and there will be several sessions.
- Sign up now to ensure you receive all the information.
- All Year 9s are to attend the first trial. Callbacks will follow.
- If you just want to play socially, you will be assigned to a social team after the first trial.
- Year 10 trials will take place after the Year 9 trials are completed.
Junior Competitive
- We will select 30 players to make up three top Junior Teams for the Wednesday night competition.
- From these teams, we will then select 10–12 players to compete in the SISS Junior Basketball Tournament in September. This selection will take place later in Term 2.
Junior Social
- You can create your own social team, but it cannot include anyone in a competitive grade.