basketball

At the 1990 Mt. Evelyn (Vic.) Convention, the SSPA inaugurated a basketball competition between teams of short-statured people from Victoria and New South Wales. The first match was played at the Kilsyth Stadium in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and resulted in a victory to Victoria by 9 points. The scores were: Victoria 22 New South Wales 13. A trophy was donated for perpetual competition between the two teams and was named the Rosemary Hobbs Trophy, after the S.S.P.A.'s co-founder.

The idea for starting the basketball competition can be traced back to 1989 when two members of the SSPA travelled to the L.P.A. Convention in Baltimore, Maryland and became participants in the Dwarf Athletics Association of America (DAAA) Games. Impressed with the organisation of the various sports, both members came back to Australia with ideas of how short-statured people could be involved in such sports as track and field, swimming and basketball. As basketball was a team sport, it was decided to interest as many S.S.P.A. members as possible in that sport, particularly in the two states with the biggest membership - New South Wales and Victoria. Eventually, training squads were formed and coaches appointed.

Originally, it was hoped that the competition would become an annual event to be held as part of the S.S.P.A. National Convention programme. However, after the inaugural match had been played in 1990, the next match between the two teams did not take place until two years later, at the 1992 Gold Coast (Qld.) Convention. Again, the Victorians won, this time by a smaller margin of 6 points. The scores were: Victoria 16 New South Wales 10. Another two years passed before the two teams played again. In a break from tradition, the match was played on the Queen's Birthday weekend in June in Melbourne. New South Wales broke through for its first victory by defeating Victoria 25-8 - a thrashing by 17 points!

Since 1994, matches have been organised on an annual basis. In fact, in 1997 two games were organised in the one year. In June, 1996, Wodonga, a rural city on the border of Victoria and New South Wales became the next venue for the S.S.P.A. basketball competition. Although not held at the National Convention that year, the decision to hold it at this location on the Queen's Birthday weekend proved to be successful. So successful in fact, that the same event has been held every year since, in conjunction with the S.S.P.A.'s quarterly National Council meeting. The Wodonga basketball weekend has become the second biggest event on the S.S.P.A.'s calendar, behind the National Convention. By 1996, Victoria had won four of the five matches held between the two teams. However, in recent years, New South Wales has made up some ground by winning five of the next six games.

Attempts to develop the basketball competition beyond Victoria and New South Wales have so far proved to be fruitless, for the simple reason that the membership in the other states (South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland) isn't big enough to sustain the numbers required for ongoing basketball squads. Given this scenario, individual members from those states have been given the opportunity to participate by playing for an "adopted" state e.g. Victoria "recruited" a South Australian as well as a Western Australian member for its team at the 1997 National Convention. Also, these states formed the nucleus of a team known as the "Allies" which played the Victorians at the 1998 National Convention. Although this particular match was an unofficial fixture, the Allies managed to beat Victoria.

While the possibility of developing a national basketball competition for short-statured people in the future is a remote one, both Victoria and New South Wales continue to sustain sufficient numbers of basketball players for its respective training squads. In particular, New South Wales has been able to split its training squad into two distinct teams for a regular competition of its own. This competition started in 1998 between the Eastern Sydney Eagles and the Western Sydney Redbacks. With lesser numbers in Victoria, the emphasis has been on nurturing a junior squad of players from the ages of 8-12 so they can eventually graduate to the senior team's training squad.

In June, 1999, Victoria and New South Wales once again did battle for the Rosemary Hobbs Trophy at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium in Victoria. After an even first half where Victoria led 25-23 in an entertaining shoot-out, the New South Wales team completely dominated the rest of the match scoring 30 points to 4! The final scores: New South Wales 53, Victoria 29. In winning the game, New South Wales not only achieved the highest score by either team in this competition but also the greatest winning margin.

The year 2000 has seen the tenth contest between New South Wales and Victoria. In this contest, held once again at Wodonga Basketball Stadium on the June long weekend, New South Wales made it three wins in a row - the first time that either side had managed the feat in the ten-year history of the competition. In a one-sided contest, New South Wales won 39-17.

In 2001, New South Wales made it four wins in a row by defeating Victoria 64-29 in a one-sided contest.

On Saturday 7th June 2008, the 14th Rosemary Hobbs Trophy match between New South Wales and Victoria took place at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium in Wodonga, Victoria..

Having been defeated last year, the NSW basketball team trained from March up until the June long weekend in an attempt to reclaim the Rosemary Hobbs Trophy from Victoria. For their part, the Victorian team were equally determined to achieve consecutive victories over their arch-enemy and level the overall standings to 7 wins apiece.

Once again as per last year’s game, this game was very intense. It was a competitive match but one that was played with great sportsmanship. The Victorian team were down by 8 points in the last quarter, but managed to bring it back to within 1 point with only seconds to go in an exciting finish. However their efforts weren’t quite enough and the clock ticked over to give NSW the honour of winning the Rosemary Hobbs Trophy. It was the closest margin in the history of this competition. After the game comments from the lively spectators included “it was the best game we’ve seen the teams play”, “our hearts were in our throats as it came down to the wire”, “what great skill and sportsmanship was shown”.

It is hoped that next years game will be just as close as the last two, maybe it might end in a draw? Who knows! Hopefully you can be there to cheer us all on!

Final scores: New South Wales 30 defeated Victoria 29
New South Wales MVP: Dalton Ong and Victoria's MVP: Jonathon Tripp.

The next Rosemary Hobbs Trophy match is scheduled to be held at Wodonga, Victoria in June 2009.

New South Wales 64 (No player statistics available) defeated Victoria 29
(No player statistics available)
- at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium, Wodonga, Victoria.

New South Wales MVP: A. Shipley Coach's Award: A. Simak
Victoria MVP: M. Geaghan Coach's Award: H. Killeen

New South Wales: M. Blair (Capt.), W. Bos, D. Cowlishaw, T. Parker,
D. Cottrell, D. Gullota, R. McKee, N. Monk, D. Ong, Allan Shipley,
Amanda Shipley, A. Simak, J. Fallon. Coach: S. Belgre

Victoria: O. Lynch (Capt.), M. Young, S. Barrett, R. Paton, T. Huebner,
H. Killeen, R. Paton, M. Geaghan Coach: L. Lilly

New South Wales 39 (M. Blair 9, W. Bos 8, A. Shipley 8) defeated Victoria 17 (F. Kelly 9)
- at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium, Wodonga, Victoria.

New South Wales: M. Blair (Capt.), M. Pearce, W. Bos, D. Cottrell,
D. Cowlishaw, D. Gullota, R. McKee, N. Monk, D. Ong, T. Parker,
Allan Shipley, Amanda Shipley, A. Simak. Coach: M. Pearce

Victoria: F. Kelly (Capt.), M. Young (Vice Capt.), J. Clayton, J. Gillivour,
T. Huebner, H. Killeen, O. Lynch, R. Paton, L. Rochford. Coach: F. Kelly

New South Wales 53 (R. McKee 17, M. Blair 12, A. Shipley 9) defeated Victoria 29 (C. Boyle 8, F. Kelly 6, M. Young 6)
- at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium, Wodonga, Victoria.

New South Wales: M. Pearce (Capt.), M. Blair, T. Parker, D. Cowlishaw,
M. Cowlishaw, D. Cottrell, R. McKee, S. Belgre, Allan Shipley,
Amanda Shipley, A. Simak Coach: P. Leonard

Victoria: F. Kelly (Capt.), M.Young, R. Paton, T. Huebner, O. Lynch,
C. Boyle, H. Killeen, L. Rochford, D. Pinnell (SA), B. Johnston (WA)
Coach: R. Millard

New South Wales 32 (M. Blair 12, R. McKee 10, S. Belgre 7) defeated Victoria 25 (M. Young 14, F. Kelly 6)
- at the Wodonga Basketball Stadium, Wodonga, Victoria.

New South Wales: S. Belgre (Capt.), W. Bos, D. Bos, M. Blair, M. Pearce, T. Parker, D. Cowlishaw, M. Cowlishaw, D. Cottrell, J. Fallon, A. Rothwell, R. McKee. Coach: P. Leonard

Victoria: F. Kelly (Capt.), M. Young, S. Barrett, R. Paton, J. Whitaker,
T. Huebner, O. Lynch, C. Boyle, H. Killeen. Coach: R. Millard

Year	Venue	Result
1990	Kilsyth, Victoria	Victoria 22 def. New South Wales 13
1992	Gold Coast, Queensland	Victoria 16 def. New South Wales 10
1994	Kilsyth, Victoria	New South Wales 25 def. Victoria 7
1995	Rye, Victoria	Victoria 21 def. New South Wales 16
1996	Wodonga, Victoria	Victoria 25 def. New South Wales 18
1997	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 18 def. Victoria 13
1997	Gosford, New South Wales	Victoria 38 def. New South Wales 31
1998	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 32 def. Victoria 25
1999	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 53 def. Victoria 29
2000	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 39 def. Victoria 17
2001	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 64 def. Victoria 29
2002	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales def. Victoria
2007	Wodonga, Victoria	Victoria def. New South Wales
2008	Wodonga, Victoria	New South Wales 30 def. Victoria 29