Basketball in South Australia

Featured Image by: Trevor Kinross

“Different country, same game; hoop’s the same height, court’s the same size, it’s the same ball… You’re just playing basketball.”

These were the words I heard before leaving the States to play my first year of professional basketball overseas. As encouraging as they were at the time, and as foundationally true as they may be, playing basketball in another country is a bit of an adjustment.

Okay, basketball IS basketball anywhere you go, BUT, at least between South Australia (SA) and the United States, I have experienced a few differences; technically, culturally, …and even differences that are mentally challenging (but I’ll get to that later).

David instructs me in my warm ups before every game.

David (my hubby – trainer and best friend!) and I brought my Molten basketball all the way from the States with us. We aired it up and started training the day after we arrived. Come to find out, according to Australian standards, we didn’t air it up nearly enough. I brought my precious Molten rock to my first day of practice with my new team, and I remember seeing one of my teammates scan the court for a ball and pick mine up only to dismiss it as “flat”.

Here, in Australia, they inflate their basketballs right to the edge of exploding. I missed a ton of shots with the new foreign ball that first practice, and the practice after that, and the practice after that… In other words, getting used to just how much they inflate their basketballs was very much an adjustment – for shooting, finishing, rebounding, and ball handling (I can’t tell you how many times I dribbled the ball over my shoulder too. I may not be a point guard, but I know my handles aren’t THAT bad!) As frustrating as it was, I’m happy to say, it is possible to adjust. But let me tell you, my friends, a basketball is not the same basketball everywhere you go!

Me driving to the basket during the first game of the season; Woodville vs Central.

One of the biggest cultural adjustments of going from U.S. Division 1 Basketball and S.A. Premier League is the amount of practices per week. My team practices twice a week; Monday and Thursday, for two hours. Our practices are in the evening because many of the women work during the day. The college experience is very different, with practices usually seven days a week …let’s be honest, we might as well say eight.

Two practices a week isn’t a problem when you’re married to your trainer though.

When David and I go workout on our own, there are some junior club teams that also only practice together twice a week, for an hour and a half, and a handful of kids and adults who come to the recreation center to shoot, or play pick-up games.

But even the recreation center opening hours were odd to us; on Saturdays the courts will be empty at 4 o’clock, only because that’s when the recreation center closes.

4 o’clock on a Saturday?

The Australian National Anthem is played before every game, after a statement of acknowledgment to the Aboriginal tribes. Here, you can see both the Aboriginal and the Australian flag represented.

One thing you’ll learn if you come to Australia is that the culture is very laid back and relaxed here. Especially in South Australia. We’ve been told that other cities in Australia have a lot more hustle and hectic-ness than Adelaide. But in Adelaide, most people either go home to their families or like to party on the weekends.

You might be thinking, “Okay, so what? They close at 4 on Saturdays. Aren’t most kids practicing with their school teams anyway?” The answer to that is simply no. Which is also why it was even more strange to think the rec center would be closed so early. As big as school basketball is in the states, club basketball in S.A. is much more prominent than school basketball is here, and also the only way players “climb the ladder”.

Which system is better? It’s hard to say really, but it is interesting to think that America may be beginning to lean more on AAU/club basketball anyway… What do you think? Should America lean heavier on AAU and fade the significance of high school basketball, or does high school basketball have a necessary impact on young people’s lives?

Other differences in Basketball S.A include:

Home teams wear the darker color, not white. (As far as I know, that actually goes for every sport here.)

The shot clock is 24 seconds, not 30 seconds.

The 10 second violation is no longer 10, but 8.

Time outs can only be called on a dead ball.

When making substitutions, there is no checking in at the table. You just cross your arms, stand up and yell “sub”.

Refereeeeeeeees………..

Me attempting to block a shot (or committing a foul?) during the first game of the season.

Okay, okay, hear me out. I’m not going to sit here and complain about the refs, but this is a real thing – a real adjustment.

We all know, in basketball, even more important than our physical game is our mental game. If we play tight, irritated, angry, and allowing makes, misses, plays, players, or even referees get under our skin, then we’re just not going to play to our full potential – we’re not going to be in complete flow. Our minds are powerful, so when you let something external effect your mind, that just becomes a mess and simply not fun. I’m not one to complain about refs, and I’m not just making this up; there really is a lot of inconsistency here, one game to the next. But that’s just where making the adjustment comes in; basketball has, once again, taught me a very valuable life lesson – don’t allow outside factors to effect your joy (and mostly, just learn to make the adjustment so you don’t get fouled out).

Although I am in a different country and differences are inevitable, there is one thing that will never change; as long as I get to play basketball, I will always be grateful – wherever I am.

…Oh, one other thing: After every game, there’s an MVP selected from both teams. What’s the trophy?

A wine bottle.

Gotta love Australia! 🙂

All images by Trevor Kinross (a.k.a. The Legend)

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Cheers,

Joyful Jot