Balls were bounced, fumbled, chucked, thrown, sho=
t, and=20
passed for the eighth and final week of Midnight Basketball for the year.=
=20
The Den has been a hive of activity for the past eight Saturday nights =
as=20
kids chose to work on their skills and get active with their weekend rathe=
r than=20
waste their Saturday in front of the TV.
In a great initiative for the Armidale Community the Midnight Basketbal=
l=20
competition provides Armidale=E2=80=99s youth not only the chance to have =
fun, meet new=20
friends and play basketball but also provides participants with a meal, a =
lift=20
home and a workshop to sharpen their minds.
=E2=80=9CWe were a bit down on numbers from last time - we=E2=80=99ve h=
ad a change of venue=20
so that probably contributed, but the kids were loving it and enjoyed them=
selves=20
so that was good,=E2=80=9D co-coordinator Josh Edmunds told The Express.
=E2=80=9CIt went off without a hitch and we had a number of close games=
including the=20
final.
=E2=80=9CEach night the kids have to do a workshop before they get to p=
lay games and=20
the workshops involves challenges and team building exercises, which is gr=
eat=20
for the kids=E2=80=99 confidence.=E2=80=9D
Former National Basketball League star Butch Hayes was the guest speake=
r on=20
the final night, sharing his story with kids while also taking them throug=
h some=20
training drills and offering some advice on how they could improve their g=
ames.=20
The red team comprising of Dok Mamer, Matur Malvach, Emma Moran, Maluac=
h=20
Malvach, Taylor Adams, Shay Quinlan and Brittany Quinlan took out the=20
competition title while the White team of Chris Cox, Christine Vale, Miaya=
=20
Tighe, Christian Cohen, Jonathan Brown, Marissa Chatfield and Teresa Cook =
were=20
the overall winners of the workshops.=20
Edmunds told The Express the community-minded competition would be back=
=20
around Term 2 next year.