GREATness in TGS Basketball

By Mr Kabe Cicolini, Head of Sport - Basketball & 1st V Head Coach

At Toowoomba Grammar School, our P to 12 Basketball Program looks to build GREATness (Grammar Values, Resilience, Execution, Accountability and Toughness) in every boy, regardless of age or ability.

We place a premium on academic success and focus on the core values of programfirst thinking and developing not just the student-athlete, but the young man.

TGS Basketball appeals to a wide range of basketball interests and abilities and looks to create positive experiences and outcomes for all. Our program offers a range of basketball opportunities for the high performance and participant-level athlete across two key strands of our program:

Performance Squads: A Teams, Emerging Player Squads, 1st V.

All-In Squads: B-D Teams, TGS Club Basketball Teams, Grammar Junior.

We view our role as coaches within the TGS Basketball Program as those who provide a platform through which boys can acquire, apply, and achieve across a variety of skills and competitive outcomes. We look to match the ability of the player with the appropriate strand of our program offerings and apply the TGS Basketball “Style of Play” and “Skills Matrix” through that avenue.

Culture and Values

From a cultural standpoint, TGS Basketball is built on the back of three core values: Family First, Empty the Tank and Sweep the Sheds. For us, these pillars transcend the performance element but allow for all boys to measure themselves and be successful in their own contexts on and off the court. We instil these from the very first time a boy puts on the TGS jersey, all the way through until graduation, always spotlighting the importance of consistency, continuity and growth.

Family First – this is central for us. Are we being selfless in what we do? Do the needs of the many outweigh the desires of the one? What is important to us as a whole? And if all goes haywire, when all is said and done, we remember to reunite as a family and move as a group.

Empty the Tank – very simple. Give your absolute best in everything that you do. Leave the floor and any situation having given your all and having done everything you can to be successful. Be the best version of yourself that you can be for you and for the people in your circle.

Sweep the Sheds – the old All Blacks mantra and the idea that no one person is too important to get in and do the dirty work. For us, it’s about leaving places, situations, and interactions with people in a better condition than when you arrive. This could be clearing and cleaning the bench at the end of a practice or game; it could be graduating from our program and having such a positive influence that TGS Basketball is better for having you in our family; or it could be as small as a conversation, finishing with the person you are interacting with in a better space than before you spoke.

The real-world applications for these are endless and I’m proud to see our boys from Year 1 all the way through to Year 12, embody these values every day. If our boys grow within our program and depart TGS and TGS Basketball as better human beings then we, as coaches and staff, will have done our jobs.

Brisbane Bullets ‘Big Shots’ camp

Club Basketball

The immersion of TGS Basketball within the Club Basketball competition over the last few years has afforded our boys increased opportunities to grow within the game. Our youngest boys are just seven years of age, playing 3X3 and 5 on 5 for the first time ever. We hope that, over time, they, and the rest of our 101 players, may come to represent one of our year-level teams and perhaps even our 1st V in the TBA A Grade competition.

Brisbane Bullets

Each year we benefit greatly from being a Partner School of the Brisbane Bullets NBL Franchise. This relationship has been crucial in not only growing the profile of Basketball at TGS, but also allowing our boys to grow up as fans and with heroes within the game. The partnership serves to provide opportunities for inclusion, development and engagement with elite athletes and coaches and has already seen some of our coaches and Old Boys create links with the Bullets. This sees our boys and coaches rub shoulders with Bullets players and staff through a number of initiatives across 12 months of the year:

» Bullets players and coaches conducting clinics and games in

Grammar Junior School PE lessons.

» Brisbane Bullets High Performance staff mentoring our coaches across a number of technical, tactical and pedagogical areas. » Bullets players and coaches assisting with All-In Camps, A Squad

Camps, development clinics and community programs.

» Our performance players benefiting from visits to the home of the Bullets,

Nissan Arena, with an all-access tour, on-court clinic with players and coaches and even competing in a half-time showcase game.

Our work with the Brisbane Bullets is the perfect complement to our goal of creating an inclusive and engaging program, dovetailed with a holistic athletic development model and a pathway for the future success for our TGS men.

TGS Basketball Old Boys

Through our growing initiatives, and our blossoming partnerships, we have seen a number of TGS Basketballers go on to secondary basketball opportunities both domestically and abroad. A number of boys have represented their Association in either the Queensland State League or NBL1 (semi-professional leagues), while a number have experienced increasing success on the recruitment front. Over the last few years, we are proud to have seen several TGS boys offered positions in North American College Basketball and Degree programs:

Harrison Hornery – Mater Dei HS (California) and University of Southern California Jack Wagner Ottawa University (Kansas) Jason Spurgin University of Southern Utah Greg Spurgin Westminster College (Utah) Joshua Allen College of the Siskiyous (California) Bailey Biggar Medicine Hat College (Canada)

We look forward to continuing to reap the benefits of our programs and partnerships through the growth of our sport at TGS over the coming years with a view to book a permanent place in the top places of the GPS competition and state rankings.

Rahul Captain passing to the win

2022 1st V Go Down in History

The 2022 1st V Basketball squad will be forever etched in the pages of Toowoomba Grammar School history as the first TGS team to win a GPS Basketball Premiership since the competition commenced in 1984.

“I am really excited for the boys to get this first Premiership,” said Head of Basketball and 1st V Coach, Kabe Cicolini who has overseen the program since 2018.

“For me personally, it’s a weird sense of accomplishment and relief; we’ve been toiling away quietly for a long time so it’s great to see the hard work come to fruition.”

Kabe said the TGS team was definitely not the most talented in the GPS competition, but led by captain Rufaro Zimbwa, they had common values and expectations; they focussed on a game-by-game scenario rather than becoming overwhelmed by their good results or looking too far ahead.

“We weren’t expecting to achieve as well as we did each week, but the boys kept growing, and as a result we could keep going without putting too much pressure on ourselves,” said Kabe.

The Premiership-winning match against Gregory Terrace was a nail biter. TGS had a comfortable 14-point lead going into half time (45-31) and were 59-48 coming into the third quarter but GT turned it on with the scores tied at 63 with two minutes remaining and 65 all with two seconds on the clock. Year 10 student, Samuel Geu then had a moment that dreams are made of - he hit the winning shot with just 1.4 seconds remaining!

“I’m immensely proud of the boys,” said Kabe.

“We are so young, so I’m proud of their resilience and ability to achieve what they have already.”

“I’m excited for next year too, as we have the same boys’ group, so I’m content with what they’ve achieved. I’m ready to move on to the next challenge.”

Tawana Ngormia beats the GT defence

2022 1st V GPS Basketball Premiers Year 10 student, Samuel Geu hits the shot of his dreams to lock in the premiership