In the Year 7 & 8 competition there will be a restriction on the number of representative players who can play in the one team.  Every team in the Year 7 & 8 competition will be allowed 30 ‘representative points’.  Any player who is a 2010 division 1 representative player (in any association representative team) will be worth 10 points; any player who is a 2010 division 2 representative player (in any association representative team) will be worth 5 points.  Players who are not 2010 rep players will not have a points allocation.

This means that all teams will now have to assess their ‘representative points’ before entering their teams.  This representative player restriction is one that is used in most large basketball associations in NSW, and we hope will add an element of competitiveness to all games.  At the moment, teams are not finding any value in winning by large scores, and alternatively, some teams have withdrawn from the competition because of big defeats.  This rule will hopefully make teams more even, and at the same time, encourage former players back onto the floor.

The rule has not been introduced into the Yr 9 & 10 competition, as it was felt that many of these teams have been together for many years, and that the benefit of splitting them up would be more difficult for the larger schools to administer.  However, we would encourage players in the Yr 9 & 10 competition to look at their team selection and consider what is best for their own development and for the competition, and perhaps they may voluntarily alter their team members.

With Matt Shanahan working on a weekly basis in Toormina High, and soon to start in Orara High, we hope to see a resurgence  of player and parent interest in those schools for the 2^nd competition of the year.