Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to congratulate Nunawading Basketball, based in my electorate, at East Burwood Reserve. This past long weekend Nunawading Basketball hosted the Nunawading Spectres tournament for 2023, and what a tournament it was. The event attracted 9,154 participants across 817 teams, including 357 girls teams, utilising 69 basketball courts—an enormous achievement. This event continues to go from strength to strength, and now boasts the title of the largest single club tournament in Australia. Further demonstrating the growing popularity and status that this event now holds, it also attracted 296 participating teams from interstate, in addition to international participation from four under-18 girls teams from the United States of America.

We know that a tournament of this magnitude is a massive undertaking and requires an extraordinary level of commitment, so I need to mention the tireless efforts of CEO Mark Hallett and his team in pulling off this amazing event, as well as the participation and contribution of the referees, officials, volunteers, coaches and, of course, the participants themselves. At present, Nunawading Basketball facilitates competitions and programs for nearly 12,000 players, coaches and officials on a weekly basis. Congratulations to all involved on their outstanding contribution to basketball and to our community.