FRANK PONTA CUP REINSTATED FOR 2018

Named after five-time Paralympian and the father figure of the Australian wheelchair basketball program, the Frank Ponta Cup provides high level competition to athletes within the pathway while giving national team coaches a look at a wide range of talent from around the country.

Australian Rollers and Gliders head coaches Craig Friday and David Gould will be in attendance alongside Brad Ness (Under-23 Spinners head coach) and Murray Treseder (wheelchair program mentor coach).

The 41 players will be drafted into five teams for the tournament, named after legends of Australian wheelchair basketball.

Four teams honour captains of the men’s program in John Turich (inaugural captain of the Australian Rollers), Sandy Blythe and David Gould (co-captains of the 1996 Atlanta gold medal winning team) and Brad Ness (captain of the 2008 Beijing gold medal team and 2010 World Championship gold medal team).

This year, a fifth team has been added and is named after three-time Paralympic medallist Liesl Tesch to acknowledge the contribution of the Gliders program and the incredible mark left on the sport by Tesch.

Coaches will get the chance to ply their trade in a more competitive setting with Jennifer Anderson (Rockhampton Wheelies), Jason Bryant (Werribee Devils), Brendan Dowler (Wollongong Rollerhawks), Sarah Graham (Under-25 Devils), James Hill (Sunshine Coast), Thomas Kyle (Basketball Western Australia), Tom Kyle (Basketball Queensland), Nick Such (Queensland Spinning Bullets) and Nick Taylor (Wollongong Rollerhawks) set to attend.

The Frank Ponta Cup will also offer the opportunity for developing referees and officials to continue their education in the sport with chief IWBF and AOZ classifier Don Perriman on hand for the event.

The 2018 Frank Ponta Cup Athlete List:

First Name Surname
Taylah Parry (4)
Benjamin Moncrieff (4.5)
Anderson Parker (4.5)
Thomas McHugh (4.5)
Lachlin Dalton (2.5)
Nathan Simpson (2.5)
Shawn Russell (4.0)
Joshua Allison (1.0)
Angus Johnston (1.5)
Bree Mellberg (3.5)
Georgia Munro Cook (4.5)
Hayden Siebuhr (1.0)
Taitum Brown (4.5)
Georgia Bishop-Cash (4.0)
Frank Pinder (1.0)
Natalie Alexander (2.5)
Damon Fent (1.0)
Jeremy Tyndall (1.5)
James Weinert (4.5)
John McPhail (3.0)
Dylan Gawthorne (2.5)
Jake Fulwood (4)
Steven Elliott (4.0)
Hannah Dodd (1.0)
Isabel Martin (1.0)
Teisha Shadwell (4.5)
Jessica Cronje (4)
Ella Sabljak (1.0)
Matthew McShane (1.5)
Andrew Dewberry (3.0)
Dylan Robinson (3.5)
Eithen Leard (2.5)
Amber Merritt (4.5)
William Crooks (3.0)
Luke Pople (2.5)
Jaylen Brown (4.0)
Brad Fisher (3.5)
Maryanne Latu (2.5)
Jake Kavanagh (3.0)
Timothy Markcrow (1.5)
Mary Friday (2)

The post FRANK PONTA CUP REINSTATED FOR 2018 appeared first on Basketball Australia.

The Frank Ponta Cup has been reinstated for 2018, a tournament that will see 41 athletes and nine coaches converge on the AIS and Centre of Excellence from November 29-December 2.

The post FRANK PONTA CUP REINSTATED FOR 2018 appeared first on Basketball Australia.

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