Hills Hornets Basketball slam dunking the opposition
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Basketball is a massive sport - just look at the NBA , it is huge . All the young people want to be LeBron James , Steph Curry , Luca Donkic and others . Back in the day we wanted to be the next Michael Jordan , Magic Johnson or Larry Bird . There is no doubt that the resurgence of the NBL in this country and basketball has correlated with the success of several Australian players overseas such as Andrew Bogut , Luke Longley , Patty Mills and Lauren Jackson .
The Hills Hornets Basketball Association is no different . Steve Burke ,
Hills v Illawarra – NBL1 Women . Credit : Hills Hornets .
CEO of Hills Basketball Association has been around basketball for most of his life . He played in the mid-1970s growing up in Grafton and developed a deep love for the game that still shines through .
The Hills Basketball Association is the largest association in NSW and is one of the largest in all of Australia . Such is the success of the whole association that they can ’ t cater for the ongoing interest in the sport and provide opportunities to play wheelchair basketball , three on three and normal five a side .
They have over 10,000 members who play every week and waiting lists of several hundred people wanting to be involved in the sport . Steve says the key to the success of the association is the strong team that helps him run the game and manage the courts and players . There are many fulltime , part time and casual employees working for the association with 20,000 people going to three different venues each week .
When the association kicked off 40 years ago , they started on a one court venue out at Dural Recreation Centre in 1984 .
A lot has changed in 40 years and the association has seen moves to Meurants Lane for a while , and now they are at Fred Caterson Reserve at Castle Hill . This started off with four courts back in 1995 and in 2017 had an extension of two more . They have also taken over the two courts at Bernie Mullane Oval in Kellyville and now manage nine courts across the district .
Their basketball comps run all year round and Hills Hornets run one of the biggest development programs in all of Australia with 1600 kids each week undertaking skills classes . The population explosion in the Hills has led to more demand for sporting fields and venues . The basketball association has a particularly good
relationship with council , and they cater for other sports as well .
A major drawcard for the Hills Hornets is their inclusion in both the men ’ s and women ’ s NBL1 competitions .
It provides a direct pathway for players who fall in love with basketball to go from grassroots juniors up to the rep program with the Hornets , and hopefully some will kick on to the NBL and even the NBA or WNBA .
The roadmap has been paved with young local star Josh Green , moving up from the Hills association to the US college system , and now he plays along side one of the best players in the world , Luka Donkic with the Dallas Mavericks . He played for the Boomers at the Tokyo
Hills Hornets Waratah League champions 2023 . Credit : Hills
Hornets . Olympics winning a bronze medal and played in the FIBA world cup tournament .
Steve told me that one of the biggest challenges that the association has it getting the big-ticket infrastructure builds of a new stadium and carparking facilities in the district . This is worth a cool $ 3 million and would provide the association with facilities to be able to cater for their staggering growth .
Some other notable players to play in the Hills district are AJ Ogivly who played in Europe and for Australia and Kate Oliver played for the Opals and came through Hills .
It is a field of dreams playing basketball in the Hills Basketball Association , and you might just be one of the talented players that cracks the big time .
Glenorie District Cricket Club hitting them for six
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
On the outskirts of the Hills district and on the furthest northern fringe of the Hawkesbury is the little town some people refer to as being out in the sticks Glenorie . Glenorie Cricket Club are a staple in this community and have been around for 130 years . The club started with many pioneers who were migrant farmers . They play at the picturesque Les Shore Oval which is just down the Old Northern Rd towards Maroota , just heading out of town . Amanda Fraser tells me that it is only a hop , skip and a jump to Hornsby via Galston Gorge if it is open . As the club are on the fringes of the council boundaries , it is difficult getting solid media attention in either the Hawkesbury or Hills districts . A few of the players travel to Glenorie , including Yellow Wiggle Greg Page and his two sons who play for the club and love the atmosphere and environment .
Glenorie are part of the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai and Hills District cricket associations . It ’ s a big district with a large footprint that sees them head north to Brooklyn and east to Turramurra .
This year the club have been successful
Justin Newbury 168 not out . Glenorie Credit : Glenorie District Cricket Club .
with three senior teams and nine junior ones and are one of the smaller clubs in the district . In juniors they pretty much have a side in every age group , which is very competitive and shows the great support of the area behind the club .
The club do really well for their size in the women ’ s space and they have 13 players registered this year in girls program . All girls team have a dedicated Friday night , u9s , 10s and 11s competition Stage 1 .
Amanda is a driving force behind the women ’ s and girls ’ programs and is the women ’ s coordinator for the district . The club also have two dedicated female coaches and two female teams .
Amanda advised me that there is a misconception with how long the games actually go for , and when you start off with the u8s , the games only go from 8am till 10am . The biggest challenge that the club faces is convincing the parents that the junior games don ’ t go all day ; the juniors are generally done by lunchtime . The little kids have Blasters cricket for 5 – 8-year-olds with skills-based activities like bowling with a straight arm , catching etc you don ’ t get out and its 20 overs an innings .
Amanda said that the club are working hard to keep and attract more players from the u14s age group , and encourage them to start playing seniors . There are no restrictions with the number of overs that can bowl , scores they need to retire at unlike the juniors which is made to ensure that everyone gets a fair go at everything .
There have been some notable performances in the seniors this year including a very impressive knock of 168 not out from Justin Newbury against Asquith . He previously played for West Pennant Hills and has been a great addition to the club this year .
Tyrone Mitchell is the teams ’ coordinator for the club this season . He is a remarkable batsman and won the district award for the batter of the year . Junior Coordinator Madeline Mitchell puts out great material that is really engaging content for the locals and the community .
I think that Amanda would like to see continued growth of the women ’ s game in the club and association and give girls the opportunity to play .
The club like to be very inclusive and
Glenorie District Cricket Club u14s . Credit : Glenorie Cricket Club .
allow people with disabilities and women and everybody to be involved .
You should head on down to Les Shore Oval and check it out . It ’ s a great place to visit .
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32 ISSUE 102 // DECEMBER 2023 MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS ! theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT