PHILIPPINE BASKETBALL TEAM TRAINS AT THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORTS
The Pilipinas 16 & Under National Youth Basketball Team of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas recently visited Canberra to train at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Australia’s world-leading elite sports development institute. The 10-day training camp allowed the team to prepare for forthcoming international competitions by honing their skills in shooting, playing against a zone defence and competing against taller and faster opponents.
The training camp at AIS included a pocket tournament facilitated by National Intensive Training Centre Program head coach Rob Beveridge (pictured), in which the Philippine team was competitive against representative teams from Australian states. It is hoped that training camps and pocket tournaments will be held annually in Canberra.
Australian Ambassador Rod Smith welcomed the exchange, noting that Filipinos and Australians share a passion for sports, particularly basketball, and international exchanges of this nature would benefit both countries. Australia is consistently ranked among the world’s top 10 nations in men’s basketball and top three nations in women’s basketball.