Basketball Leaders Gather for Weekend Summit

Key Basketball Leaders from across the country gathered in Melbourne over the weekend for the 2011 Basketball Summit.
Over 70 of Australian basketball's most highly-placed administrators and investors, including representatives from all National Basketball League (NBL) and Women's National Basketball League clubs, all States and Territories, as well as the various Basketball Australia commissions and Board members, were invited by the Board of Basketball Australia to attend the annual event which saw the sport's most influential figures take part in a series of meetings and think tanks, aimed at building on the work established in previous years as the sport continues to grow.
The agenda included a review and assessment of the recent rebuilding phase of the sport, particularly at the National League level, as well as exploring future opportunities.
Basketball Australia Chief Executive Larry Sengstock explained "it's been a great year for the sport and we are reviewing the things that have been done well recently, areas we can improve on, and then looking forward to some new initiatives.
"A great deal of hard work has gone into our strategic plan and the Summit is a great opportunity to report back to our stake holders on developments in this area."
Over the weekend the NBL Commission approved a number of changes to the Rules and Regulations for the 2011/12 iiNet NBL Championship season, including scrapping the Under 24 Player clause.
Following a series of recommendations submitted by the NBL Chief Executive's group, the major changes include:
ï¾ Teams are no longer required to have an Under 24 Australian/New Zealand player as a member of their contracted squad of 10 to 12 players each season;
ï¾ The number of Nominated Replacement Players a club must have each season has been increased from two to three, with these players now able to move in and out of a team's active roster without requiring the previous two-game minimum sit-out period for the player they replace;
ï¾ A player placed on injury waiver who is not replaced by a club's Nominated Replacement Player may not be returned to the Active Player List until twenty one days or four subsequent games (whichever is earlier) have expired from the date the waiver was granted;
ï¾ The wording around the rules for the NBL Tribunal, which previously banned any comment whatsoever around cases before the Tribunal, has been adjusted to allow comment but not criticism;
ï¾ Rules around the release of NBL contracted players to participate in off-season domestic competitions have been relaxed so that athletes won't require a formal clearance to play with a SEABL, ABA or State League team.
NBL General Manager of Operations Chuck Harmison said that it was important for the NBL to review and adjust the league's rules as required in order to ensure they continued to be effective and fair, stating "while overall we have been very happy with the conduct of the competition over the past 12 months, there have been a number of areas that have been highlighted as being in need of updating.
"The consensus among our clubs is that the Under 24 rule was not the best mechanism for clubs to develop the young playing talent that is in this country. All of the NBL clubs have sophisticated development programs that help identify and develop young talent, and with the increase from two to three players that a club can nominate as replacement players (who must be on the team's development squad and therefore under 24 years of age) we are giving young players great opportunities to develop to the NBL standard.
"We've also streamlined the process for NBL players to be allowed to play with domestic teams in the off-season by not requiring a formal clearance as they previously had, which should have benefits at the local basketball level".
The 2011/12 iiNet NBL Championship season will tip-off in early October 2011.