SBA secretary receives prestigious award

SURFCOAST Basketball Association (SBA) secretary Rebecca Lewis says she has been overwhelmed and appreciative of the kind messages from the Surf Coast basketball community after she received Basketball Victoria’s coveted Alan Ashe Volunteer of the Year Award.

Ms Lewis made the trip to Q Events in Melbourne to attend the Basketball Victoria Awards on May 16 alongside her fellow committee members, but did not realise the trip was for her until her husband and daughter arrived at the venue.

“I’m not the greatest at receiving attention and praise, but now that I’ve reflected on it, I’m more appreciative of the honour now and it’s been an unreal time,” Ms Lewis said.

“It was a fun night all in all, but the next day I was astounded by the number of messages and calls congratulating me on the award.”

Ms Lewis’s SBA title as secretary includes a long list of duties.

“I’m always willing to help out where I can, whether it be communications, publicity, social media, team manager, but my favourite part of my job is the Aussie Hoops,” she said.

“It’s the highlight of my week, which might sound ridiculous considering it’s really hard to find volunteers to help out for Saturday at 8.30am, but the kids’ energy is unreal and seeing them doing a crossover or shooting a shot is just amazing.

“All the grassroots stuff we do here at the SBA, I love.”

Ms Lewis thanked the board, the committee and the SBA community for her award, citing it as a by-product of the association’s efforts behind the scenes.

She also noted the club had been extremely resilient over the past five years, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s just incredible the amount of kids that are coming through now after a tough couple years, there is just so many opportunities for them at the moment,” she said.

“Whether it be through domestic comps, our Chargers teams, refereeing, it’s just great to see and it’s thanks to the work of so many people.

“We just need more courts.”

To make the award more special, Ms Lewis said it was lovely to receive the award during National Volunteer Week this year.