Open A Basketball Wins National Silver Medal

December 09, 2024

The Trinity College Open A Basketball Team finished an incredible run at nationals with a Silver Medal – the second-best school basketball team in Australia.

In oppressively humid conditions all week, playing six games in five days, Trinity consistently won the effort areas, played a very disciplined and team-oriented style and defied the odds to make it to the final, eventually losing to deserved winners Berwick (VIC) 77-87.

Coming in as the youngest team in the Championship division, with the majority of players in Year 11, the team could have been forgiven for turning up to enjoy the experience and make up numbers, but despite the more mature bodies of the opposition, Trinity scrapped and hustled their way deep into the tournament, beating reigning champions The Southport School (QLD) and national powerhouse Lake Ginninderra (ACT) along the way.

All the other schools in the Championship division hand out basketball scholarships and/or have a basketball-specific program built into its curriculum. Trinity has neither. Instead, Trinity’s basketball success has been built on players and staff stealing time before and after school, lunchtimes and school holidays in order to compete with the best in the country.

The 2024 silver medal adds to the growing list of national championship-division medals in basketball, including the national gold in 2018, bronze in 2019, and another silver in 2016. The College can lay legitimate claims to being one of the top three or four championship-division programs in the country.

The Trinity community can rightly be proud of the medal, but what is more impressive is the group of young men representing the College. There was no grandstanding or gesturing during the games, no behaviour issues on or off the court, just a band of incredibly tight teammates focussed on a single goal of advancing as far as they could. Every spare moment was spent recovering, scouting, and preparing for the next game. Their approach was exemplary.

Throughout the year, the boys were fundraising during their school holidays by coaching younger Trinity students in clinics, and during the school term they were coaching STARplex teams in order to help pay for their trip. They stayed in barrack-style accommodation in a Scout Hall to minimise costs, and on the morning of the final, were scrubbing and mopping the accommodation down ready for the next group coming in that afternoon.

It is hard to overstate the type of experience a campaign like this does for the students and staff that commit so much to it, but humility, discipline, sacrifice, togetherness and ultimately pride are traits that come to mind.

Kudos to Chris Clausen (2005) for inspiring these young men, and investing a full year of team sessions, shooting and weights totalling up to 4-5 sessions per week. As an old scholar and member of Trinity’s first-ever state championship in 2005, he has a deep love for his College and the young players that are continuing the legacy.  Seeing how the boys respect him and respond to him is the exact reason Trinity has a co-curricular program. 

Thank you also to basketball co-ordinator Jye Watson who grinds himself to a pulp during these weeks, preparing meals, cleaning, shopping, scouting, assistant coaching and whatever else needs to be done. They have created a life-lasting experience for the Open A Basketballers.

Source: Rupert Sapwell, Trinity College Director of Sport