Basketball revival what young need, says coach

FULL-ON: Wairarapa players in Lower Hutt's Monday Night basketball league. Rohan Russo (left), Neil Harris, Kieran Andrews-Paul, Jason Russo, Patrick White, Caleb Barton. Absent Jermaine Kerehi.

A BASKETBALL coach and drug counsellor wants to revive basketball in Masterton, saying it is an invaluable sport for team-building and self-esteem.

Patrick White, an alcohol and drug counsellor, coaches basketball on Sundays and transports budding players to the Hutt and Wellington to compete in competitions.

White, who is originally from the United States, said there is a long history of basketball in Wairarapa, including a second division team.

"It was a really big community thing," White said.

White, who is on the board of the Lower Hutt Basketball Association, has prepared a constitution and wants to set up a trust to help fund basketball in Wairarapa.

He has just returned from Lower Hutt, where his boys played during the Lower Hutt Monday Night league as a team combined with Hutt youngsters.

Their success had motivated him to grow basketball in Masterton, which included coaching the sport at Rathkeale College last year: "I want to schedule a meeting, for people that are interested.

"We would affiliate ourselves with Lower Hutt. A trust would give us the framework to apply for funding."

His motivation to build youngsters through sports went "real deep", he said.

"When I was a kid, I played baseball, but I fell into drugs. There was nobody there to say, 'what's going on, talk to me'.

"Then when I came over here, five years ago, I worked for a Maori organisation.

"I was in contact with kids here, and I know what basketball can do for kids. I said, I have got to do this, there's a place for it here."

He said the youngsters he trains have told him how the sport has boosted their esteem.

"It's coming together, it's working as a team - those kind of values."

White said rugby is a "great sport" but not all youngsters are into rugby.

-White and his recruits train at Genesis Recreation from 2pm to 4pm on Sundays and can be contacted at pmredwhite35@gmail.com