Our flagship High School Basketball Competitions are excited to enter a new partnership with Lincoln University
The Thomson and Whelan Trophy Competitions have been running as weekly competitions since 2015 and 2016 for our High Schools’ “Senior A” teams, and have been widely lauded for the part these competitions play both in terms of raising the level of competitiveness for Canterbury’s teams on a national stage (evidenced by the amount of teams qualifying for National Tournaments, and the results there), and also in terms of generating interest in playing basketball locally (shown by the huge increase in player numbers in High Schools in Canterbury over the same period).
Lincoln University Marketing Manager Duncan Stirling is excited about the new partnership: “Basketball is the fastest growing teenage sport for boys and girls in New Zealand. Partnering with Canterbury Basketball is an opportunity to promote sport and encourage teenagers to stay active while also highlighting the opportunities available for them to grow with Lincoln University‘s range of land-based qualifications.”
The General Manager of the Canterbury Basketball Association, Clive Beaumont, had expressed a similar sentiment: “We are hugely grateful to Lincoln University, for entering into partnership with us in 2023 by sponsoring the Thomson and Whelan Trophies. This will enable us to deliver what is widely regarded as the foremost Premier High School Basketball competition in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and at the same time we are able to promote Lincoln University as a first-class destination and environment for tertiary students, to pursue both their academic and sporting ambitions.”
A key point of synergy in the expanded partnership between Lincoln University and the CBA is the basketball scholarships on offer each year. Pete Magson, Lincoln University Sports Scholarship Programme Manager, said Lincoln offered a pathway for players hoping to play at the highest-level through their basketball programme.
“It is great to be able to support young athletes through this partnership, and through our Sports Scholarships, to be able to be play a game they are passionate about and to fulfil their sporting dreams.”
Entries for the 2023 competitions will open soon, with last year’s Thomson Trophy, and National, Championship winning team, Christ’s College, expected to have a significantly different team. In the Whelan Trophy Competition, the 2022 Champion, and National Silver Medalists, St. Andrew’s College will be returning a relatively high proportion of their key players.
