Basketball hall-of-famer Pero Cameron calls for more Northland facilities

Pero Cameron is confident Northland basketball can only move forward if more money is put into building proper facilities for indoor codes. Photo / Tania Whyte

New Zealand basketball icon Pero Cameron insists more sporting facilities are required if Northland is to progress further in basketball.

Cameron, who returned to his home region for a few days to conduct some training clinics, said recent achievements made by Northland age-group teams should make basketball a good investment for the future.

In 2019, three age-group teams (the under-15 girls, under-17 boys and under-19 boys) have all qualified for their respective national tournaments in June and July, a feat not achieved in Northland in more than 10 years.

"We need proper outdoor courts and not just basketball; netball and futsal all need more courts," Cameron said.

The FIBA Hall of Fame member, who flew back to his Australian home on the Gold Coast yesterday, said the difference in resources was huge across the ditch, where Cameron had a 15-court stadium and a 12-court stadium, 10 minutes apart from each other.

He said Northland's main basketball facility, ASB Stadium, was not enough to build upon the successes of the region's young players.

Cameron arrived in Northland last week to run a series of training clinics for players and coaches on Friday and Saturday in an initiative set up by the Cameron Basketball Academy and Northland Basketball.

About 40 young players flocked to his Saturday morning session at the Whangārei Boys' High School gymnasium where he helped them through a number of skills and drills exercises. Cameron said it was great to be home to see the region's talent, particularly in the under-15 girls' team.

"I think for the Northland under-15 girls to beat the national champions, that's like a once in every 10 years thing, 20 years maybe, but it's good to see.

"I had some time with them [on Saturday] and there's definitely some talent there and I'm always looking for talent."

Cameron, who is also the New Zealand under-17 girls' team coach, said the achievements of that team and others were thanks to the commitment of coaches across the region.

"The girls are killing it, and it's just a good job for what the coaches have been doing here for the last couple of years and the programmes they've got going," he said.

"They get these kids that are in the under-9s and under-11s and it's started to pay off at 17s and 19s."

About 10 Northland coaches came to Cameron's coach training session on Friday night. Cameron said the biggest hurdle basketball coaches needed to overcome in Northland was managing players' commitments to other sports.

"All the boys come from a rugby or a league background and it's the same with girls and netball, so we've got to manage the time we get them.

"We've got to be a little bit clever about when we train and when we play because they are all playing other sports at a high level."

Despite the scheduling conflicts, Cameron felt playing other sports gave Northland teams an advantage over others who had only played basketball.

"The positive side is these kids come battle-ready, they are ready to compete, they're athletic, fierce and aggressive which is want you want," he said.

The under-15 girls' team will be seeded number one when they go into their national competition in Tauranga on July 17-20. The under-17 boys' side play in North Harbour from July 10-13.