The Breakers Pathway is a program designed to supplement our Player Movement Guidelines by facilitating player movement based on ability while providing development opportunities for emerging talented players. The pathway aims to maximise players potential while ensuring they continue to enjoy basketball and maintain friendships.
We want to foster a culture where player movement based on ability is a normal and celebrated part of a player's development, with all parties collaborating in the best interest of the players.
In junior age groups, it's common for an individual player's ability to rapidly increase, sometimes causing them to "outgrow" their current teammates. While loyalty and friendships often keep teams together for a while, eventually, a significant range in ability can lead to teams disbanding or players leaving on their own accord.
Teams with players of similar ability tend to enjoy basketball more and have greater opportunities for development. When there are significant differences in ability, it can be challenging for all players to develop equally within the same team. If not addressed early all of the players involved miss out on opportunities to develop and enjoy basketball to it's fullest.
Currently, requests for player movement (based on ability) often come at the end of a season, causing unnecessary stress for families and players due to sudden relocations.
The goal of the Breakers Pathway is to identify talented players who may benefit from joining a different team with players of similar ability in the future. The program provides a transparent process that involves the player's family, coach, and current teammates to make such transitions smoother, while also offering additional development opportunities.
The club will provide suitable teams for Pathway Players to fill-in on a regular basis. These are ideally teams with experienced coaches playing in higher divisions that could potentially accommodate new players in an upcoming season. These teams will be encouraged to call up Pathway Players whenever possible (e.g., in BPBA competition, fill-ins from lower divisions are allowed when the team list is under 7 players).
Opportunities: Once identified, the Pathways Player program offers the following benefits:
Playing Up: Opportunities to "play up" with teams in higher divisions or age groups while continuing with their current team.
Future Placement: Assessment toward the end of the season for potential placement into a new team based on ability and development trajectory (pending spot availability and other considerations).
Representative Invitations: Names forwarded to representative basketball clubs for try-out invitations.
Additional Training: Possible additional club training sessions.
Benefits of the Program: The club will provide a period of recognition, allowing all parties time to adjust to a potential team change and celebrate their teammate's achievement.
Challenge: Pathway players get the opportunity to test themselves as fill-ins in higher divisions or age groups.
Acknowledgement: The Pathways Player will be acknowledged for their own progress and current coaches for their contribution to the player's development
Team Support: Current teams will receive support with coaching goals and with new players if placement occurs in the future
Consider a team that started playing together in Under 10s and is now in their fourth year, competing in Division 4 of the Under 12 competition. One player has grown significantly and is starting to dominate games.
During Term 4 (the first half of the Summer season), this player is selected for representative basketball, and their coach recognises an accelerated development trajectory, notifying the club.
The club's development team flags them as a "Breakers Pathways" player. The family and current coach are notified and they inform their teammates. All parties understand that the player might be invited by the club to move to another Breakers team in the future.
Over the season, the pathway player's teammates, coach, and families have all had time to discuss the potential move and understand it's a great opportunity for their teammate with benefits for everyone involved.
Meanwhile, the Breakers development coaches monitor the player's progress as they regularly "maxes out" in points during the first half of games. They also observe that teammates are starting to look for them instead of taking their own shots. The Pathways Player also regularly fills in with a Division 1 team, an experience they enjoy and handle well.
At the end of the season, the Breakers development coaches determine that this player will benefit from playing with others of similar ability in a higher division. They also conclude that if the Pathways Player remains with the current team, the team is likely to be graded to a higher division, increasing their dependence on this player. The club also considers how the current team will cope without the pathway player and judges that while they won't be as strong, they will remain competitive in the same division, and other players will have much more opportunities to develop.
A team in a higher division, with whom the player has already filled in several times, is identified as a good fit, and the player's family agrees it's in their child's best interests. The club allocates a new player to the current team to ensure they are not left short.
To identify a "Pathways Player," please follow these steps:
Early Identification: Parents/caregivers or coaches notify the club at info@oceangrovebreakers.com.au, or club coaches identify players by observing games and training.
Assessment: The Breakers Committee/Development Team conducts an assessment.
Notification: Parents/caregivers and current coaches are notified, who can then discuss with current teammates.