Victoria’s elite players, extraordinary associations, amazing volunteers, staff members and referees, united to celebrate all things Victorian basketball in 2018.
The Basketball Victoria Awards Dinner highlighted the outstanding efforts from our community on and off the court, in support of growing the game and maintaining our elite standards at all levels.
Our major playing awards were won by Ben Simmons, Liz Cambage, Kobe Williamson and Gemma Potter for their significant contributions on court throughout the year.
Ben Simmons flourished in his rookie season for the Philadelphia 76ers. He starred from his first game en-route to a number of incredible accolades across the season. Simmons reeled in 38 triple-doubles and appeared in 81 games (all starts), averaging 15.8 points in 33.7 minutes per game, 8.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.7 steals. The 6-foot-10 guard joined Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only two rookies in NBA history to post at least 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. Simmons was named the NBA Rookie of the Year and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honours.
Liz Cambage lit up the court wherever she went. She was brilliant in the Melbourne Boomers’ WNBL campaign, earning WNBL All-Star Five selection before returning to the WNBA. She made an immediate impact for the Dallas Wings, as Cambage set the WNBA’s single game scoring record in an extraordinary 53-point haul. Her sensational season was celebrated with a deserved selection in the All-WNBA First Team, as well as winning the WNBA Peak Performer and WNBA Scoring Leader awards. From her incredible year in America, Cambage also starred at the FIBA World Cup in Spain and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, earning an international silver medal and Commonwealth Games gold medal to cap off 2018 in style.
Gemma Potter(Junior Female Athlete of the Year) and Kobe Williamson (Junior Male Athlete Of the Year) dominated for Victorian junior representative teams in 2018 – with Potter’s Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Women winning the national championship – before Australian duties beckoned, with both excelling internationally.
Eltham Basketball Association was named Association of the Year, Casey Basketball Association was named Association of the Year – Runner Up, Hawthorn Basketball Association was named Junior Program of the Year, Broadmeadows Basketball Association was recognised as our Inclusive Association of the Year and VBRA Knox Branch was recognised as our Referee Program of the Year.
Ken Harrington (Ringwood Basketball Association) and Sally Duncan (Power Assist) claimed the Jack Carter Award and Allan Ashe Award respectively for their extraordinary contributions to Victorian basketball throughout their lives.
“2018 was another phenomenal year in Victorian basketball and we’re proud to recognise and reward excellence throughout our incredible basketball community,” Basketball Victoria CEO Nick Honey said. “Victorians have taken basketball to the next level again in 2018 as we continue to deliver outstanding results both here and abroad.
“On behalf of Basketball Victoria, I’d like to congratulate our award winners and service award recipients. This night is about celebrating the achievements, triumphs and contributions of our athletes, coaches, officials, administrators and valued volunteers who improve our sport every day.”
BASKETBALL VICTORIA 2018 AWARDS – WINNERS LIST
JACK CARTER AWARD – Ken Harrington, Ringwood Basketball Association
ALLAN ASHE AWARD – Sally Duncan, Power Assist
JUNIOR PROGRAM OF THE YEAR – Hawthorn Basketball Association
ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR – Eltham Basketball Association
ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP – Casey Basketball Association
REFEREE PROGRAM OF THE YEAR – Knox Basketball Association
INCLUSIVE ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR – Broadmeadows Basketball Association
WHEELCHAIR ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – Jontee Brown
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY – Kate Leckenby
BASKETBALL VICTORIA MEDIA AWARD – Tara Murray – Star Weekly
TECHNICAL OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR – MALE – Chris Reid, Knox Basketball Association
TECHNICAL OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR – FEMALE – Sarah Carey, Nunawading Basketball Association
SPALDING DOMESTIC COACH OF THE YEAR – Dennis Gates, McKinnon Basketball Association
COACH OF THE YEAR – MALE – Reece Potter, Werribee Basketball Association
COACH OF THE YEAR – FEMALE – Megan Moody Bendigo Basketball Association
FAIR PLAY AWARD – Ryan Holloway
BETTY WATSON MEDAL – Liz Cambage
ALAN HUGHES MEDAL – Ben Simmons
JUNIOR FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR – Gemma Potter, Bulleen Basketball Association/Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence
JUNIOR MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR– Kobe Williamson, Southern Basketball Association
BASKETBALL VICTORIA LIFE MEMBERSHIP
Darryl Neal
Dan Kirtley
BASKETBALL VICTORIA – 2018 SERVICE AWARDS
SERVICE AWARDS – BRONZE (15 YEARS)
Patrick Boa Fa Wang
Anthony Allen
Matt Bass
Ron Bates
Roger Bland
Simon Bowen
Peter Cameron
Sue Cromarty
Peter Cunningham
Rob Dielemans
Victoria Dollimore
Peter Harrex
Terry Jackson
Jess Jones
Terence Langdon
Jackie Lee
Liz Liebelt
Greg Liebelt
Chris Malane
Dean McCarthy
Meredith McFarlane
Aimee Page
Josh Pontin
Lee Reinshagen
Gavin Southern
Colin Stephens
Deb Wadwell
Robyn Webster
SERVICE AWARDS – SILVER (25 YEARS)
Peter Asquith
Brenda Bianca
Kirsty Bone
Teresa Cherbakof
Sam Daniel
Colin Downing
Geoff Fairweather
Campbell Fraser
Helen Fraser
Jason Geritz
Lynette Harrower
Sue Hladky
Bernie Jansen
Sue Kusko
Patricia McKay
Douglas McRae
John Michell
Chris Morrey
Gaile Reid
Kelly Roffey
Adrian Schruhm
Nathan Sewell
Wayne Sewell
Wendy Tan
Sam Thornton
SERVICE AWARDS – GOLD (35 YEARS)
Alan Barrett
Ronald Bates
Diana Botelho
Gabriele Caligiuri
Gregory Flanagan
Jan Henderson
Terry Jackson
Margaret Keen
Garry Kitchin
Graeme La Fontaine
Edna Logie
Kevin Martin
Claude Martino
Alan McAughtry
Allan Moyle
Cedric Noter
David Radford
Heather Reid
Andrew Roberts
Mark Roffey
Greg Russell
Carolyn Shelley
Arthur Stone
Lee Strappazon
Terry Wilson
Daniel Wu
SERVICE AWARDS – DIAMOND (50 YEARS)
Maureen Franklin
Michael Kapnoullas
Lorraine Kapnoullas (deceased)
Douglas Palmer
Rhonda Pritchard
Gordon Sincock
Dennis Smith
John Turner
Val Wain
