By David Nagel
Pride and satisfaction permeated through morning assembly at Berwick College recently as the school celebrated the achievements of one of the best Basketball Academies in Australia.
Players, coaches, students, staff and special guests gathered to recognise a remarkable success story at the 2024 Australian School Championships – held on the Gold Coast in December – where Berwick College won three gold medals, one silver and two bronze.
The College made a clean-sweep of all boy’s divisions that it competed in, winning gold at under-20, under-17 and under-15 level, while the under-20 and under-17 girls out-performed their rankings to bring home bronze.
But the true depth of talent at Berwick College was encapsulated by the silver-medal winning performance of its Under-20 Division 1 team; marking the only occasion at the championships where a school had two teams in the same age group.
Director of Basketball at Berwick College, Chris Pentland, said the overall success of the program was extremely satisfying.
He also indicated that winning the Under-20 Boys title in the Championship Division – a prestigious category made up of the best school teams from each state – was a memorable achievement for the school.
“Certainly, the biggest highlight would have to be that, winning the championship division, but we’re so proud of what we achieved overall on the Gold Coast,” Pentland beamed.
“The intermediate boys (U17) were dominant, winning the final by 40, and obviously having that clean sweep of our boy’s teams was another fantastic achievement.
“Those boy’s teams didn’t lose anything throughout the year; we won the Champions Cup in Victoria, the Victorian College Championships and now the national titles.
“And none of the girl’s teams went in ranked too highly, so for the senior girls and intermediate girls to achieve medals was a great result and showed they really came together as the year progressed.”
Pentland said taking seven teams to the Gold Coast was a huge undertaking for the program; but made the successful journey a fantastic one to be a part of.
“That was another highlight, just having 70 kids away, with their coaches and team managers, having fun, sharing experiences on the Gold Coast; moving around in their own team vans, things like that” Pentland explained.
“The players were amazing; it was a tough week physically in the heat but they did themselves and the school proud.”
Pentland orchestrated the creation of the Berwick College Basketball Academy in 2012, and has since put together a very impressive roster of coaches.
Melbourne Tigers NBL championship player Gerard Leonard (Academy Head Coach) has been by Pentland’s side from the outset, while Shannan Davey (Assistant Director), Brent Hobba and Craig Kennedy (Coaches) also have impressive resumes in the game.
Jade Hyett and Kassie Boorer are also well-respected players at the elite level of women’s basketball and have done a great job of improving standards in the girl’s program.
“This is obviously our most successful year, but we’ve been punching pretty high since we won our first national title back in 2017,” Pentland said.
“We very much stay local and don’t go outside our small area, and it’s the coaching and connectedness that gets us across the line.
“Other schools might have many state players in their squads, and we might not have any, but we beat them by submission really.
“It’s 10-up, 10 all in; we rotate our guys through, and the depth we have is credit to the elite coaching we have at the school.”
Pentland said despite the success of the Basketball Academy; it is academic success that takes number-one priority at the school.
He confirms it has been the focus of the program from day one.
“This all started when my daughter was approached to go to another school for their basketball program; but a third of their schooling was on-court,” Pentland said.
“We’ve scaled that right back so they don’t miss any classroom time.
“They do PE, but we also have Sport Ed; where a basketball academy kid will do their main training session instead of the Sport Ed class.
“Instead of getting an Arts subject, we give them a skills session, a weights session, a theory-based sport-science class.
“They do the same amount of maths, english, science and humanities as every regular student that goes through the college.”
Pentland said the Basketball Academy had provided proven benefits for its participants in the classroom.
“We did a deep dive into what the kids do at Berwick; and kids in our academy finish schooling with better attendance, they get better academic results and they’re more engaged,” he said.
“The academic side has always been number-one for us, the basketball is sort of like the cherry on top.”
The Academy Director said he was so proud of what the program had become and means to so many.
“The growth is what makes me most proud,” he said.
“We’ve now got 300 kids at the school doing basketball; and that’s where we’ve seen it blossom.
“Kids that haven’t touched a ball are seeing what we’re doing and want to be a part of it; they’re very new to the game and loving the vibe.
“It’s like a family within the larger school family and kids just want to be a part of it.
“We have incredibly high retention rates within the program, that also makes me proud, because they come in, feel valued, and feel a part of something.
“The connectiveness of the kids to the program and the coaches also make me proud.”
So, in football terms…what are the chances of a premiership hangover in 2025?
“For us it’s about maintaining that level and the exciting thing about school basketball is its across two school years; year seven and eight, nine and 10, 11 and 12, so every year you’re dealing with a new team.
“That sort of regenerates itself, those year 11s that were waiting for their opportunity to become leaders, they get their chance this year.
“It’s constantly evolving which keeps the kids pretty fresh and excited.
“This year we have our USA trip (Texas) for our 10s and 11s, so we won’t have as many teams going up to nationals, it will mainly be our junior teams that are the focus.
“That trip to the US is so they can see the college system, playing some of the big schools over there, and they can get an idea of what the level is like over there.
“Some love it, and want to do it; and others realise the talent they have to contend with and decide to stay home.”
Berwick College currently has four banners hanging from its rafters; with Jaz Shelley, Carley Earnst, Luke Fennell and Jordi-Ella Groenewegen all representing Australia at different levels and age groups.
With Pentland confident that up to eight players from the Under-20 championship team could receive NCAA contracts – and the junior program being so dominant – Berwick College made need to get the builders in.
Those rafters are going to need some serious reinforcement over the coming years!
