Spectres Still Rising

In the midst of the most bizarre year on record, experienced by this generation, the Nunawading Spectres have found strength in unity, committing to stay connected with members of their Victorian Junior Basketball League teams.

The Spectres Rising Program was introduced for all intents and purposes as a temporary measure designed to connect and engage our junior athletes and coaches as they navigated through the initial phase of Melbourne’s lockdown in March / April, with a vision of resuming their 2020 seasons at some point shortly after.

Seven months on and the VJBL season officially cancelled, the common basketball term ‘iso-ball’ has taken on a significantly different meaning to that associated with the Houston Rockets style of play. The Spectres Rising Program is still running strong, with Nunawading junior teams continuing to meet weekly via Zoom or over phone. Session content varies from basketball specific workouts to fitness sessions, trivia nights to scavenger hunts and sometimes a good old-fashioned chin wag – lets be honest, none of our juniors know what a chin wag is…

“This is an absolute credit to our coaches who have chosen to keep working with their teams and our players who remain committed to their own ongoing development,” Spectres Junior Program Director of Coach Tamie Harvey said.

“That’s well over 1,000 sessions delivered since the beginning of this pandemic and they’ll continue to reinvest until we have a definite tryout date for next seasons teams.”

The association continues to work with and be guided by Basketball Victoria as it looks to navigate a way out of Stage 4 Restrictions and towards a Return to Play for our members – latest updates can be found here.

And in a time where we are faced with so much uncertainty, one thing you can bank on is that the Spectres will continue to adapt, connect and improve so that we are in the best possible position to pick the ball up and run with it come tip-off.