	{"id":172512,"date":"2025-10-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=172512"},"modified":"2025-10-16T21:26:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:26:57","slug":"inclusive-basketball-hits-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/inclusive-basketball-hits-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive basketball hits the court"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SURFCOASTERS Basketball Club has launched into the Geelong United All Abilities program, with not one, but two teams.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong United&#8217;s all abilities competition welcomes people of all abilities, helping them develop greater confidence, skills, strength and friends.<\/p>\n<p>Program coordinator Rob Sneddon said the Torquay team had been several seasons in the making.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[The idea has] been there for a few seasons, just bubbling along under the surface, trying to work out some networks to connect with to get the team started.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is our first season, or first launch; the club have supported it with subsidised fees, supplying uniform and assisting with match day payments as well.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The club have been really amazing in regard to supporting the program.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The all abilities competition caters for a variety of ages and skill levels with an emphasis on creating a supportive, social, inclusive and fun environment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/B07K1267-back-Anthon_13052.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anthony Lewicki, Kate Tamassy, Belinda Cini, Felix Hansarer-Lauril,\u00a0 Taj Boxall, Liam O&#8217;Neil,, Zac O&#8217;Connell, Connor Sneddon and Josh Arnold were ready to get on the court for their first game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The two teams, Bells and Winki, took to the court for the first time on Friday, October 10, filling Beyond Bank Stadium with a strong energy.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Sneddon said it was exciting to finally be able to get a team together and everyone had a great evening at their first game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were so excited to be playing; it&#8217;s just awesome to have it available for our local kids and adults.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were pretty enthusiastic, perhaps you could happily say they were over enthusiastic, which was awesome.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You could see how much they enjoyed it and how much they loved the opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The two teams will train at 3pm each Sunday at Wurdi Baierr Stadium. Mr Sneddon is inviting people of any ability to get involved and head down for the hour session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SURFCOASTERS Basketball Club has launched into the Geelong United All Abilities program, with not one, but two teams. Geelong United&#8217;s all abilities competition welcomes people of all abilities, helping them develop greater confidence, skills, strength and friends. Program coordinator Rob Sneddon said the Torquay team had been several seasons in the making. &#8220;[The idea has] [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/inclusive-basketball-hits-the-court\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":172516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-172512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inclusive basketball hits the court - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Surfcoasters Basketball launches inclusive program with two teams in Geelong United All Abilities, promoting fun, skill, and community spirit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/inclusive-basketball-hits-the-court\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inclusive basketball hits the court - 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