The 2016 edition of the Canberra Classic was held on 23 and 24 January 2016 at the Belconnen Stadium. 22 teams, with representation from as far as Queensland, took part in the Classic across 4 competitions.

In the the Invitational Men’s Division, it was an all Canberra Gunners affair in the Grand Final, with Gunners White (pictured above) defeating Gunners Blue 69-53. Gunners co-captains Dan Jackson and Daniel Joyce led the charge for the Gunners White side.

Jackson on the Grand Final said “…the Classic is always a great hit-out for the Gunners at the start of the year, and this year was very competitive in the Invitational Division.”

“Despite some rust early in the tournament, the guys really picked it up towards the end of the weekend. We’re all really looking forward to the start of the SEABL season, and to continuing to work hard as a team to improve.”

“I also caught some of the Under 14 3X3 competition over the weekend, and it looked like the kids were having a heap of fun. It’s great to see our Junior players taking to the new format of the game, and hopefully it can build from there.”

The A-Grade Men Grand Final saw Canberra Blue (the Under 18 ACT State Team) defeat the CPL Knights 47-24, whilst Belconnen Ramblers Gold came out as narrow victors against CPL Cobras 28-26 in the B-Grade Men Grand Final.

This year also saw the inaugural inclusion of the new and exciting 3X3 version of the sport, with an Under 14 Boys competition taking place. After several round robin games The Guardians defeated the Grammar Gunners 10-6 to take the 3X3 title!

In addition to competitive basketball, the Classic coincided with the official partnership launch with S-Trend Sportswear as the official apparel supplier for Basketball ACT (“BACT”). The Gunners teams sported their new training gear over the weekend, and positive feedback on the apparels performance was received from the squad.

For more information on S-Trend Sportswear and the partnership with BACT, please see the recent news story by clicking here.