The VNPP is an elite opportunity for Victoria’s elite junior basketballers to take up scholarships and develop their skills within the program. The players are selected from both our Victoria Country and Victoria Metropolitan U16/U18 programs.
These players have been awarded scholarships based on their performances at recent Australian Junior Championships or have been identified by our High Performance Coaches as having the potential to represent Australia in the future.
Encompassing on-and-off the court education at AWA Alliance Bank Stadium in Belmont last weekend, the VNPP provides athletes with a comprehensive, innovative and elite development program.
Basketball Victoria’s High – Performance Coaches, Hub Lead Coaches, State Team Coaches and State Development Coaches were in attendance to provide further training and development opportunities for the invited players.
Athletes completed workshops on mental health and wellness, strength and conditioning, college pathways as well as Basketball Victoria’s new monitoring system Own Ur Goal. In addition to this, the Coaches understand the important role of the Parents in the young athlete’s journey and the Camp also provided workshops to the Parents on the aforementioned topics.
On the court our athletes participated in physical testing including anthropometric data, Yo-Yo, vertical jump and agility tests as well as three on-court sessions focusing on fundamental skill development and decision making.
Basketball Victoria High Performance Head Coach for Metro Men – Ash Arnott said the program will provide a platform for aspiring young Victorian players an opportunity to be exposed to elite behaviours and skill sets that a required at the next level.
“We’ve seen some amazing achievements from Victorian players in recent years at national championships as well as already representing Australia and we’re keen to continue that success with the next generation of Victorian stars,” Ash Arnott said. “The Victorian National Performance Program (VNPP) is an elite opportunity that will enhance the players’ skills and take them to new heights as players and most importantly, as people in general.
Basketball Victoria’s Female High Performance Coaches Jenni Screen and Zoe Carr said: “This program is more than just developing amazing basketball players – we are taking an holistic approach to each individual.
“We want to ensure players coming through the VNPP graduate from the program as not only elite individuals on the court but even better and well – equipped people off the court.”
Basketball Victoria would like to thank Geelong United for the use of AWA Alliance Bank Stadium for the VNPP camp as well as Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence coach Kristen Veal for being part of the camp.