Tigers Mascot Named
Following our AGM Fun Day, where we asked our members to suggest a name for our mascot, we can announce that the winning name is Roarie the Mountain Tiger. All entries were considered and there were some unusual, even funny ones submitted, but the committee agreed that Roarie was the most appropriate. We thank all who took the time to submit an entry, but in the end there were four winners who will share the Rebel Sports voucher prize. These will be forwarded directly.
Archived News
Regional Primary Schools Basketball Selections
Congratulations to Jake Eccleston, Annalise Vine and Meaghan Finlayson, three of our Mountain Tigers players who had recently been selected to play basketball by The Victorian Primary Schools Sports Association in our zoned primary school area.
Of the 120 players representing the zone, 10 girls and 10 boys were selected to go on to play for their region. Jake, Annalise and Meaghan were all selected to play for the Whitehorse region against Moroondah, Eastern and Yarra Valley regions.
The teams played off in a round robin tournament with the girls Whitehorse region finishing undefeated champions on the day and the boys runners-up. Of these eight teams another nine girls and nine boys were chosen for a training squad with other Northern, Western and country region players selected for this stage, to try out for the State Team.
Congratulations to Jake for selection to the State try outs and great effort to Annalise and Meaghan for reaching and winning the regional championships.
Mountain Tigers Player Wins Upwey Billy Cart Race
Joshua Webster, son of Mountain Tigers registrar Robyn Webster, recently demonstrated his versatility by winning the 14 to 16 section in the Traditional Category of the Upwey Billy Cart races. Josh was encouraged to participate in the race by his geography teacher at Upwey High School who is no doubt as proud as Punch that his student came away with a victory. Well done Josh, another trophy for the mantle piece and let’s hope you can follow up with a basketball premiership flag to go next to it!
New Mountain Tigers A grade referee
Congratulations to James Butler who recently received his A grade as a referee.
James is a well respected referee and richly deserves his A grade ranking. James plays in under 18 for the club and is also in his first season as the coach of the under 12 #1 girls team who have finished second under his guidance.
Simon Duckworth: The Voice
Congratulations to our very own “Ducky” on receiving the inaugural Seniors Raiders Chairman’s Award for his efforts as court announcer at the Raiders games. Simon, who has been nicknamed “The Voice” by people who have obviously never heard of John Farnham, assures us that there is no truth to the rumour that part of his award was free singing lessons to spruce up the “Let’s go Raiders let’s go” which has to be heard to be fully appreciated.
By the way, Simon turned 28 on September 30th and would love you to say Happy Birthday when next you see him.
Parents create new dynasty
A group of Mountain Tigers parents, many of whom coach, have created their own basketball dynasty by winning a fifth consecutive grand final in the over 35 mixed competition played at Upwey High School on Wednesday nights.
Frank and Glenda Driessen, Heather Green, Brenda Van Keulen, Michelle Jones, Don May and Greg Short are now looking for number six. The men are not allowed in the key in the mixed competition but having three tall girls gives the team a strong inside presence. Add pocket rocket Michelle Jones into the mix and this reporter is assured that the men just have to turn up and behave themselves.
The team plays in the old Belgrave Panthers uniform, one more win and we may have to kit them out as Tigers!
Simon Duckworth Tamed
Well known basketball junkie Simon Duckworth (Ducky) has announced his engagement to his girlfriend of nine months, Megan Alden. Megan is a former KSC Phoenix and Knox Junior Raiders player and obviously shares Simon’s passion for basketball. Megan is currently associated with WASPS where Ducky has also coached.
Ducky coaches more domestic teams than you can poke a stick at, one junior Knox Raiders team, is a court announcer at senior Raiders games and is currently the editor of our newsletter. The pressing question is; can we lure Megan to Mountain Tigers or do we have to handcuff Ducky to stop him going to WASPS? Come what may, the club wishes Simon and Megan well for the future.
Club Offence
The club’s standard offence was introduced at a coaches meeting on July 4th. Unfortunately attendance was not quite what was hoped for with only 14 coaches present on the night. Those who came saw an ITCP video which dealt with principles of motion offence such as; ball reversal, principle of receivers, motion and moving with purpose.
The club offence was then outlined by coaching co-ordnator Frank Driessen. The offence is named ‘Strong’ and places emphasis on motion, spacing and cutting. It has players well positioned to observe the principle of receivers and defensive balance when the ball enters the key.
Coaches who did not attend can obtain a copy of the offence as a PDF file by contacting Frank or e-mailing the secretary (refer to the contacts section of this site).
A follow up night with an on court demonstration will be advised shortly.
First Basket
The first basket in a game is a milestone in any child’s basketball career but for the boys, once that is out of the way they begin to dream of bigger and better things. For some it will never happen but for Luke Driessen it came in round 2 of this season.
In the second half Luke found himself with an open run to the basket and not a defender within sight so it was in for his first dunk in a game. A classic two hander and not a bad effort from a top age under 16. Luke is actually playing a season early in the under 18 #1 team along with the remainder of last season’s under 16 A grade team.
The pressure is now on from Luke’s team-mates for a repeat performance, particularly from the point guard who is very keen to demonstrate the quality of his “alley-oop” passes.
120 Points in a Season
Congratulations to Charlotte Buckley from the Under 10#1 A grade girls team. Charlotte scored 120 points for the summer 2005 season. This is an amazing achievement for any under 10 player but to do it in A grade is absolutely outstanding. Well done Charlotte, everyone at the club is very proud of you.