Updated 6.45am Saturday, June 8.

Tip-off for our three teams in action at the National Junior Classic is just hours away!

Our 12.1 Girls are up first with an 8.30am match-up against Adelaide team Norwood at the State Basketball Centre. It’s one of three games on a busy day for this exciting young Dragons group, which will go head to head with Sydney team Hills at 1.50pm before wrapping up their Saturday against Melbourne Tigers (7.10pm).

Our 14.1 Boys will also start their campaign at the State Basketball Centre. They’ll open against South Adelaide at 12.30pm before shifting their focus to a 5.50pm date with Hills.

And our 16.1 Boys will open against Norwood at Dandenong at 11.15am before clashing with Norths Bears at 4.30pm.

The action continues for all three teams across the weekend, with national champions to be crowned in all age groups – Under 12, 14, 16 and 18 – on Monday.

Good luck to our teams at the Classic and to all Dragons teams competing at the Nunawading Spectres Tournament over the King’s Birthday Weekend.

With more than 250 Dragons players in action over the next three days, it’s a big weekend for our club. Make it a great one, Camberwell, and remember to send your photos, news and team reports this weekend to [email protected] We’ll have regular updates on our social media platforms (Instagram and Facebook).

Follow the National Junior Classic HERE.

Follow the Nunawading Spectres Tournament HERE.

#classiccamberwell
#NJC2024
#wearecamberwell

We see them working the sidelines on a Friday night and putting in the hours to develop our junior Dragons, but what inspires our coaches to do what they do?

We’ve put that question to them and the responses are rolling in. In this, the third instalment of our Why I Coach series, we caught up with Conor Mathews, Head Coach of the Dragons 14.1 Boys (top row, third from left). This is his story:

“I coach for a few reasons.

I coach for my younger self – what would I have benefited from when I was 12? 16? 21? If I can share even just a little of my knowledge to people who are walking the same path as a player as I once did, great.

“I coach for the “chess match”. I love the mental battle of strategies and schemes against opposition teams.

“I coach to help players use basketball as a teaching tool for school, work, relationships, etc.

“I coach to win.”

• Conor Mathews is head coach of Camberwell Dragons 14.1 Boys and assistant coach of our Big V Youth League Men’s team. He’ll lead our 14.1 Boys at the National Junior Classic in Melbourne this weekend.

Camberwell Basketball is pleased to announce the details for the fifth instalment in its Outside the Lines program.

Camberwell Basketball Communications Manager Andrew Johnstone will be joined by Camberwell Dragons Boys Director of Coaching Steve Lunardon at the CDBA office, Kew, on Thursday, June 20 (6.30pm-8pm) for this special OTL session on all things Coaching.

This session will explore Steve’s own basketball journey, which included stops in the National Basketball League as a player under coaching legends Brian Goorjian Lindsay Gaze and Barry Barnes, senior administrative roles at Association level and his current coaching work, including his duties as DOC of the Under 12, 14 and 16 Boys programs at the Dragons.

We’ll talk about the influences on his career, the attributes and traits of a successful coach, his own coaching philosophies, what he gets out of coaching (why he does it), his role at Camberwell, tips on working with athletes, share thoughts on how to break into the industry, coaching opportunities in basketball, and discuss hurdles a young coach may have to clear on their own coaching journey.

This session will be of interest to anyone currently working as a coach, thinking about making the leap into coaching, considering a career as a professional coach, and/or wanting to learn more about the realities of being a coach at all levels.

It will not be about Xs and Os, but rather a free-flowing conversation about all things Coaching. Participants will be invited – and encouraged – to ask questions throughout.

This session is free for CDBA members aged 15 and over – including players, coaches, referees, administrators and their families – and members of affiliated clubs and associations.

Places are limited, so please email Andrew Johnstone at [email protected] by Thursday, June 13 to secure your position.

MORE ON CAMBERWELL BASKETBALL’S OUTSIDE THE LINES PROGRAM

Visit https://camberwellbasketball.com/program/outside-the-lines/

We see them working the sidelines on Friday nights and developing our junior Dragons, but what inspires our coaches to do what they do?

We put that question to them and the responses are rolling in. In this, the second instalment of our Why I Coach series, we caught up with Ryleh Killian, Head Coach of the Dragons 12.2 Girls. This is her story:

“I started coaching over 10 years ago and found it so rewarding watching kids go from not being able to touch the ring when shooting to scoring their first ever goal.

“Now I coach because I love watching the girls develop not just as players but more importantly as people, which in coaching is something I hope to make a positive impact on.

“I also love coaching because of the connection I have developed with all the girls I’ve ever coached and that regardless if they are double bottom-age 12s or now u16s, they are always happy to come and have a chat and share updates about their life.”

• Ryleh Killian coaches our 12.2 Girls and plays for the Dragons Youth League Women’s team.

The third instalment of our Why I Coach series is not far away.

#dragonscoaches, #camberwellcoaches, #coachinglife, #coachesmakeadifference

We see them working the sidelines on Friday nights and taking care of business and their players on the practice court, but what is it that inspires our coaches to do what they do?

We put that question to our Camberwell Dragons coaches and the responses are rolling in fast. Some of the answers are longer and more detailed than others, but all of them to date have at least two things in common: the love of the game and a passion to help our young athletes be the best they can be.

In this, the first instalment of our Why I Coach series, we caught up with Chris Allison, Co-Coach of the Camberwell Dragons 14.4 Boys. Chris (left of photo) also plays for the Dragons Youth League Men’s team. This is his story:

“I coach because basketball is all I’ve ever known. I played as a double bottom age player in Under-12s all the way through to winning Classic and the VC Championship in my Under-18s year.

“I love the travels with Co-Coach Mitch (Bacon), I love the thrill of winning, I love the different personalities of the players, I love the strategy of the game.

“I love the sense of community within Camberwell. I love seeing the improvement from the start to the end of the season step by step, little by little getting better every training.

“Coaching is something I want to do for the rest of my life. Potentially even trying to coach professionally. For me it’s not about the destination, but more enjoying the journey along the way!”

Look out for the second instalment of our Why I Coach series here and on our social media platforms later in the week.

• Do you have a story or stories – ones we can publish, of course! – about one or more of your favourite coaches along the way? Send them to us at [email protected] and we’ll share them with the Camberwell Basketball community here and/or on our social media platforms. Bonus points if you’ve got a photo we can run with it!