Smooth boost for South Sudanese event at St Clair

The successful and trouble-free management of a major South Sudanese Australian National Basketball Association tournament at St Clair Recreation Centre has been hailed as a new high by organisers and YMCA South Australia (the Y) facilitators.

The three-day event held in January, showcased 14 teams from Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and South Australia, and saw approximately 3000 people attend the centre over its duration. Teams ranged in age from Under 16s and Under 18s and up to seniors.

The event was sponsored by the Y which contributed $3,000 towards security and worked in conjunction with SAPOL to ensure that everyone involved was safe and behaviour was appropriate.

St Clair Recreation Centre Manager, Tristan Owen, said the success of the event was a real ground-breaker for the centre and also the South Sudanese community.

“We worked hard with stakeholders to make this happen and addressed the cultural challenges that a tournament like this can often face, head on. The South Sudanese organisers were very grateful for the opportunity to use such an outstanding facility and SAPOL was extremely supportive of the event,” he said.

“The result is that the tournament ran smoothly with great games of basketball played in front of happy, cheering crowds. The only issue was that some games ran a little late but that was minor.”

“I think the bar has been set now and I’m confident that we can cater for similar events across many culturally diverse communities in South Australia.”

South Sudanese South Australia Youth Leader, Deng Defire, congratulated all who took part in the event which he said had zero behaviour concerns. He said the event was run by a group of volunteers from the South Sudanese community whose willingness to give your time and service was greatly appreciated. He also thanked the Y and SAPOL for their support on the event.