Breakers Experience

On Valentine’s Day, a group of 15 of Rutherford College’s junior boys basketball players were invited to participate in the Breakers Experience at the BNZ Breakers training facility on the North Shore. We were there with 20 players from Onehunga High School as well. The experience was organized and hosted by Fujifilm, one of the Breakers’ sponsors. The event was delayed slightly since the Breakers were facing elimination playoff contention and needed more time in, what the coach called, the most important practice of the season. It was also the last practice for Breakers legend Tom Abercrombie who had announced his retirement the previous day. 

To begin with, Simon Edwards, the Breakers General Manager who has been with the team for 21 years, hosted a Q&A session explaining the history of the team and what it takes to play in the professional ANBL. After this session, we were invited to watch the Breakers complete their end-of-training shooting and warm-downs and then allowed to take photos and get autographs from the free posters they had given us. Once the team had completed their shoot-around, Breakers Assistant Coach David Pavlokovich ran the players in some ball handling and scoring skill-based drills. After the drills, there was a prize-giving ceremony for particular stand-out performers. Ethan Clark  received an award for his commitment to bettering himself. Rylan Morpeth received an award for his exemplary attitude towards being critiqued. Paku Tai-Tahiti received an award for correctly answering a question about the team. 

In the end, Rutherford’s basketballers enjoyed the chance to witness professional players in action, get autographs and practice some ball skills. They learned a lot about what it takes (both in ability and in mindset) to make it in high performance sport, and how to continue being in the basketball world even if they don’t make it to the professional leagues. Thanks to the BNZ Breakers and Fujifilm for having us in the Breakers Experience. Best of luck for your upcoming match against Brisbane!

by Josh Tagaloa - Junior Basketball Coach