Basketball ACT (“BACT”) would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2015 Management Awards, which were conferred at the BACT Christmas Appreciation Event on Wednesday, 16 December 2015. A summary of each Award and Award Winner is outlined below.

Volunteer of the Year – Marlene Leonard

Marlene has had a long standing and wide ranging involvement with BACT, with both ball and whistle.

Marlene can be regularly seen on weekends wearing a “yellow shirt” in her role as a Referee Service Officer, helping develop the next generation of ACT referees.

During 2015 Marlene demonstrated exceptional dedication and provided invaluable assistance to the Referees and Officials area of BACT, and this Award is a recognition of her commitment to the development of referees and the wider basketball community over the past 12 months.

Thank you Marlene for all your work, and congratulations on being the recipient of the Award!

Chief Executive Officer’s Award – James Toohey (Marist College/Tuggeranong Vikings)

Always a supporter of local up-and-coming athletes, the criteria for this Award was set by Chief Executive Officer Maxwell Gratton.

Maxwell has always supported local rising sports stars, as anyone who has been in his Office at the BACT Secretariat can attest. His walls feature playing jerseys of players he has supported in their progression to the professional level. If there was sufficient space, the walls would feature numerous more.

Maxwell decided to continue this tradition, and make the CEO’s Award a recognition of a young, local, up-and-coming player that has performed exceptionally well in the 12 months prior.

James beat several quality candidates to receive this Award, through his performances at the local, national and international level.

Some of James’ key achievements in 2015 include:

Co-captain of the Under 18 ACT Nationals squad
Averaged a team-leading 13.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game (5th overall in steals) at the Under 18 Australian Junior Championships
Under 19 Division 1 Champion with Marist College
Premier 1 Men Champion with the Tuggeranong Vikings
Runner-Up in the Summer Slam with “Coulter than the Other Side of the Pillow”
Leading scorer at the Pacific Schools Games (157 total points at 22.43 PPG)
Congratulations James!

Community Administrator of the Year – Rachel Grant (Canberra Girls Grammar School)

Rachel had an extensive presence around the basketball community in Canberra in 2015.

In addition to her tireless work with the Canberra Girls Grammar School basketball program in both administration and coaching, Rachel is a long-standing member of the BACT Competitions Committee and routinely provides constructive feedback and assistance to the Association.

Thank you to Rachel, and well done on winning the Community Administrator Award for 2015.

Male Player of the Year – Justin Koenig

Justin had a great year in 2015, being a leader on the ACT team at the Ivor Burge Championships and putting up 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

His stellar play at Ivor Burge saw him selected to the Australian Boomerangs squad that participated in the 2015 INAS Global Games in Ecuador, where the team finished fourth overall after going down to Portugal in the Bronze Medal game.

Well done Justin!

Female Player of the Year – Isabelle Bourne (Norths Basketball Club)

Isabelle had a fantastic year both locally and nationally on the court in 2015.

She led the country in rebounding at the Under 16 Australian Junior Championships with 10.9 rebounds per game, to go along with her 13 points per game to average a double-double – a rare statistical feat.

Isabelle also led the Norths team that won the 2015 ACT Under 16 Girls Division 1 Championship, posting 43 points in the Final, and was a key contributor in the success of the touring Canberra Force team that finished their U.S. tour with 8 wins and 3 losses.

Her outstanding play has resulted in an invitation to Basketball Australia’s 2016 Athlete Development Camp, which offers a mechanism to identify future Boomers, Opals and Centre of Excellence scholarship holders.

Congratulations to the 2015 Female Player of the Year – Isabelle Bourne!

All-Abilities Player(s) of the Year – Brittany and Taylor Anderson (Norths Basketball Club)

Canberra was also represented by sisters Brittany and Taylor Anderson at the 2015 INAS Global Games in Ecudaor, at which both won medals with the Australian Pearls. From their efforts, Brittany and Taylor are the joint recipients of the 2015 All-Abilities Player of the Year Award.

The INAS Games saw the women’s tournament run in a 3X3 format, with Brittany winning a Gold Medal as part of the undefeated Australia Gold side and Taylor winning Bronze with the Australia Green team.

Congratulations to Brittany and Taylor!

Coach of the Year – Paula Jansen (Under 14 Girls ACT Development Program)

The Coach of the Year Award is bestowed to a Coach from the ACT that leads a team or program that excels throughout the year on multiple levels. The program that Paula led this year certainly achieved that.

Under her guidance, the Under 14 Girls ACT Development Program achieved success on many levels, including:

Canberra teams winning both the Division 1 and Division 2 Southern Junior League competitions, which featured a Canberra versus Canberra Grand Final in Division 1.
A strong showing at the National Junior Classic in Melbourne, including a top-of-their-pool finish,
And an incredible fourth overall final placing in Terrigal at the Under 14 Club Championships, narrowly going down to Knox in the Bronze Medal game.
The performance of the Canberra side at the Club Championships was one of the best in recent years, and is a credit to Paula and her program.

BACT Employee of the Year – Dan Jackson

Dan has been a “Jacko” of all trades for BACT in 2015.

From leading the Canberra Gunners as captain, acting as the Head of Finance, Facilities and Administration, to his eventual promotion to his current role of Executive Manager – Group Operations, Dan’s efforts and performance has been rewarded and recognised by the BACT Staff through winning the Employee of the Year Award.

BACT Staff, excluding the CEO who acted as scutineered, were invited to complete a 3-2-1 voting form for the Award, which saw Dan come out on top as the “MVP” of the Office.

Congratulations Dan!

2015 Premier League Most Valuable Player Awards

The 2015 Premier League MVP Awards were also conferred at the Christmas Appreciation Event. Well done to the following players:

Premier 1 Women – Kristen Langhorn (Weston Creek Woden Dodgers)

Premier 1 Men – Ben Allen (Ginninderra Rats)

Premier 2 Women – Nadezda Dorsoski (Queanbeyan Roadrunners)

Premier 2 Men – Brendan Hoang (Tuggeranong Vikings)

Congratulations to all the Awards winners, and thank you to everyone for their efforts and dedication throughout 2015.