Australia-Indonesia Sports Cooperation Reaches New Heights

Indonesia’s Development Basketball League (DBL) played host to a group of expert Australian basketball coaches including four-time Olympian Andrew Vlahov, two-time Olympian Paul Rogers, Australian Institute of Sport coach Adam Caporn and Cairns Taipans assistant coach Mick Downer to run the DBL World Camp 2010 in Surabaya from 7 to 10 August.

Mr Azrul Ananda, DBL Commissioner, declared the camp a great success. “Having access to coaches of this calibre will do wonders for the basketball development of these junior players. From the 181 participants in the camp, we have selected a male and female all-star team to compete against visiting teams from Australia’s Gold Coast in October this year,” Ananda said.

Mr Michael Bliss, Acting Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy, was in Surabaya on Friday to witness the DBL East-Java finals and said “the standard of basketball on display at the DBL was outstanding, and is a testament to the hard work that has been put into developing the league.”

“The Australian Embassy is a proud supporter of the DBL and we look forward to future exchanges between Indonesian and Australian basketball players and coaches,” Bliss said.

“Close cooperation and exchanges through sport is a wonderful way to build bridges between the people of our two countries and further enhance the already strong relationship we share,” added Bliss.

Last week, Athletics Western Australia invited a 16-member Indonesian junior athletics team to travel to Perth to compete in the Western Australian All Schools Championships, and next month a team of Indonesian swimmers is expected to travel to Australia to train with an Australian coach in preparation for the 2010 Asian Games.

In early October, the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) is running a five-day strength and conditioning course for 25 coaches from all over Indonesia. The course, sponsored by the Australia-Indonesia Institute, will see the participants graduating with a Level 1 Australian Strength and Conditioning Association certificate.

On the grassroots sports front, the 2010 Australian Sports Outreach Program is currently open for applications. The Award enables organisations to apply for a grant of up to A$20,000, designed to increase participation in sport and improve physical activity levels for people in Indonesia.

For more information on the Sports Outreach program, visit the Australian Sports Commission website http://www.ausport.gov.au/supporting/international/about/development_grants Applications for Indonesia close at 17:00 on 27 August 2010.

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