Tall Black’s campaign sets stage for discussion

Tall Black’s outstanding campaign sets the stage for Basketball funding discussion

The terrific, show-stopping performance by the Burger King Tall Blacks in the World Championships has put Basketball NZ in a good position for the funding talks starting next week with SPARC (Sport and Recreation NZ).

Nick Hill, CEO of SPARC praised the superb performances from the New Zealand team, saying no-one predicted how their games would stop New Zealanders in the streets.

SPARC is about to start a new round of funding discussions with sports next week, where it will ask sports to submit strategic plans for the next four years.

“This is a unique opportunity for Basketball NZ,” Mr Hill said. “We’re really excited about talking to Basketball, with a view to extending our support for the team and helping them build on the first-class base they’ve created for the lead-up to the Olympic Games.”

David Crocker, Chief Executive of Basketball NZ said, ”the support from SPARC is highly valued. When we qualified for the world champs last year the level of financial support was increased. We currently have a high performance plan through to 2006, we will be refining this as a result of the recent success and will be making a presentation to SPARC. We feel our performance over the past few weeks definitely warrants increasing the level of support.”

In addition to the financial support the Tall Blacks have received, they’ve also been accessing the NZ Academy of Sport’s (NZAS) services in the lead-up to the World Championship campaign. The Burger King Tall Black captain Pero Cameron made extensive use of the NZAS’s Auckland facilities on his return from China to help him recover from injury and to get back on form before leaving for the USA.

SPARC’s support to date has included:
- $200,000 to support the Tall Blacks World Championship campaign
- $275,000 for the 12 months to June 2002
- $158,500 for the six months to December 31, 2002
- Access to the NZ Academy of Sport’s services for high-performance players

ENDS

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