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Introducing a new basketball initiative for WA – The Ivor Burge WA Development Squad. The Ivor Burge National Basketball Championships is a competition for athletes with an intellectual disability. Within Ivor Burge there is both a male and female competition. The championships run every year at the same time as the under 20’s national championships and is named in honour of Ivor Burge – one of the founding fathers of basketball in Australia.

The development squad is the result of a partnership between Inclusion WA, Basketball WA, and a number of key individuals within the Perth basketball community. Our aim is to create a male and female development squad and to get regular training sessions up and running at the WA Basketball Centre in Mt Claremont. These monthly training sessions will give players an opportunity to fine tune their skills and to work on set plays with their team mates. This is the first step towards selecting the teams and eventually sending a WA representative state squad across to the national championships in 2012.

The head coach for the development squad is David Maxwell and Richard Orr from Inclusion WA is the main coordinator for the programme.

At this early stage we are on the lookout for new players. If you are a basketball player with an intellectual disability and you think you have what it takes to make the state team then please get in touch with Richard Orr from Inclusion WA by phone: 9201 8900 or by email: Richard.Orr@inclusionwa.org.au.

We are also looking to recruit two assistant coaches to help out with the general running of the training sessions. These are volunteer positions so if you are a basketball enthusiast and you have an interest in working with people with an intellectual disability to enable them to play at a higher level, then this could be the rewarding opportunity that you have been looking for. To find out more about the position and to apply, contact Richard Orr from Inclusion WA by phone: 9201 8900 or by email: Richard.Orr@inclusionwa.org.au.