Te Puke’s Hustlers Basketball NZ creating player pathways

Athletes from Hustlers Basketball Club who are in or about to head to Australia. (Back row, from left): Josaiah Hema, Zyon Hema, Anika Hyland, Maia Chandler, Rico Nelson. (Front, from left): Makylah Hema and Riley McClenaghan.

Te Puke has become a magnet for promising basketballers since the formation of Hustlers Basketball NZ in 2021.

At the time, basketball was being played on a semi-regular basis at Te Puke Baptist Church, originally organised by Alex Chen.

“A few years ago, he came and asked me to help create a bit of a basketball community in Te Puke,” says Hustlers founder and director Sam Hema.

Sam and his wife Margaret had taken their children to trial at the NZ Basketball Academy under coach Kenny McFadden, and were impressed and inspired to support their children as much as they could.

At the last minute, they entered an Under-17 team at a national junior showcase with just seven players, winning just one game, but gaining a lot of valuable experience and creating the desire to continue with the kaupapa.

Now, the club runs term-time skill sessions at the Baptist Church, has one-on-one, small group and elite training sessions, hosts three-on-three competitions, holiday programmes and competes at tournaments.

Youngsters come to the club from across the Bay of Plenty, which has been something of a surprise to Sam.

“But we are new in terms of a basketball club and kaupapa. It’s a fast-growing sport, and a lot of kids are interested, and they just want to train.”

Last year, the club created Hustlers Basketball NZ Pathways to develop high-performance athletes seeking a pathway to a professional career and a way to “live out their dreams overseas”.

The initiative has been made possible thanks to Sam’s links with NBL1 club Red City Roar in Brisbane, a club started by a friend.

“It was actually my first basketball club when I lived there. I was an Under-13 rep at that club,” he says.

“We stayed in contact, and for about a year we’ve been going backwards and forwards trying to build the relationship and seeing where we can find alignment.”

The club has its own pathways programme that aligns with Sam’s vision to support Hustlers’ more senior players “to not only go overseas, but play ball and potentially get paid to play ball”.

Six players from the Hustlers - Josaiah Hema, 15, Zyon Hema, 19, Anika Hyland, 17, Maia Chandler, 18, Rico Nelson, 19, and Makylah Hema, 13 - will be heading to Brisbane for a week on Sunday.

“We’ve put together a bit of a schedule with some training opportunities. It’s an exposure and development tour for our athletes, and they’ll be in front of NBL1 coaches and Queensland State League coaches, and will have the opportunity to train in front of them, with them and with their teams.”

A seventh player, Riley McClenaghan, 13, is currently in Melbourne representing the club on an Under-16 exposure tour.

Getting the pathway up and running was part of the original vision for Hustlers Basketball NZ.

“At the end of the day, from my perspective as a player and a coach, if you are passionate about something, it’s no use not taking an opportunity and stretching yourself on what could be.

“If that means developing a career, then let’s put this thing in place.”

“We have one-on-ones with them, and we talk about their futures and where they’re heading.”

Sam is also exploring the possibility of creating opportunities for players to go to the US at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, near Seattle.

“We’ve got a US coach we are talking with to do a similar thing with to what we are doing in Australia in Washington State. Some of them will have their dreams of playing in the States and being semi-pro or pro, so let’s make that happen.

“Just the fact that there’s a head coach over there who’s interested in us, that’s awesome, and we want to make sure he knows that we’re interested, too.”