01
MAY
THUNDERBOLTS KICK START MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL SEASONMAY
This Saturday’s first round of Midnight Basketball will begin with a chance for the players to watch the first quarter of the Thunderbolts open men’s game at the Tamworth Sports Dome.
Thunderbolts shooting guard Reece Craigie said the Midnight Basketball players will be an important part of the audience for Saturday’s game.
“Midnight Basketball is a great program set in a social environment. The first round of the season is always exciting for the young players but I think watching the Thunderbolts game will help inspire them to reach their potential and use their passion and skills to achieve big things,” Reece said.
The Midnight Basketball season will go for eight weeks and aims to provide fun competition for youths aged 12 to 18 years during ‘high crime’ time on Saturday nights.
Midnight Basketball also promotes life-skills and each night before play, participants attend a workshop dealing with topics such as drugs, alcohol, getting and job, staying health and anger management.
Joblink Plus community partnership officer Marg Hombsch is a volunteer for the competition and said for the last four years, Midnight Basketball had proved very successful in Tamworth.
“The support from the Thunderbolts this weekend adds to the efforts of volunteers to help maintain engagement from the kids and have a lot of fun in what is a safe, positive environment.
“At the end of last season the participants expressed their enthusiasm for the program saying they enjoyed having something to do on a Saturday night, loved the healthy dinner provided by the Rotary Club of West Tamworth and liked making new friends through the competition,” Marg said.
This season workshop topics include how to make the money stretch, cyber bullying as well as workshops run by the University Division of Rural Health(UDRH) on nutrition, how the body works and managing injury.
To play or become a Midnight Basketball volunteer visit www.midnightbasketball.org.au or contact Marg Hombsch on 6764 6666.
