{"id":904624,"date":"2026-09-25T05:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904624\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T05:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:50:19","slug":"st-george-basketball-celebrates-its-2026-seniors-the-greek-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904624\/","title":{"rendered":"St George Basketball celebrates its 2026 Seniors \u2013 The Greek Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"

St George Basketball Association celebrated a memorable 2026 senior representative season<\/a> on Saturday, 19 September, with a fantastic Presentation Night bringing together players, coaches, referees, volunteers, families, sponsors, partners and supporters.<\/p>\n

Held at St George Leagues Club, the evening was an opportunity to recognise the achievements of the Association\u2019s five senior representative teams, celebrate individual performances and, most importantly, acknowledge the people who make St George Basketball such a special club.<\/p>\n

The night was about far more than trophies and awards. It was a celebration of the commitment, hard work, friendships, challenges, achievements and memories that made the 2026 season one to remember.<\/p>\n

Among the special guests were Georges River Councillor Kathryn Landsberry, representing Mayor Elise Borg, Federal Member for Barton Ms Ash Ambihaipahar MP, Basketball NSW Chairperson Lisa Yen, and representatives from Club Rivers, City Ford Rockdale and the Wellness Department.<\/p>\n

St George Basketball entered five senior representative teams during the 2026 season, with every team contributing to another important year of development and growth for the Association.<\/p>\n

One of the major highlights was the performance of the Youth League Men Red team, which finished the season as grand finalists and secured progression to Youth League Division 1.<\/p>\n

\"YouthYouth League Mens Red.<\/p>\n

The achievement represents an important milestone for St George Basketball and fulfils a goal that has been pursued by the Association for many years. It is a reflection of the dedication of the players, coaching staff, families and everyone involved in the development of the program.<\/p>\n

The Presentation Night provided an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of all five senior representative teams and the pride with which they represented the Saints throughout the season.<\/p>\n

Recognising our players<\/p>\n

Individual awards were presented across the senior representative program, recognising players who made significant contributions to their teams throughout the year.<\/p>\n

For the Waratah Youth Women, Jessica Robinson was named Best Defensive Player, Ava Jukic received the Most Improved award, and Isabella Needle was recognised as Players\u2019 Player.<\/p>\n

In Waratah Men White, Riley Brown was awarded Best Defensive Player, Yianni Trikillis was named Players\u2019 Player, and Loukas Triantis received the MVP award.<\/p>\n

The Waratah Men Red awards saw Jay Hamdan recognised as Best Defensive Player, Hayden Serrao as Most Improved and Kyle Roeger as MVP.<\/p>\n

For Waratah Youth Men White, Archie Fasch received Best Defensive Player, Connor Ammon was named Most Improved and Kingston Vary was awarded MVP.<\/p>\n

The Youth League Men Red team also celebrated the achievements of Ansu Dukuly, named Most Improved, Jaxon Jon Frintzilas, Players\u2019 Player, and Tao Smith, MVP.<\/p>\n

\"AvaAva Jukic, Female Athlete of the Year<\/p>\n

\"TaoTao Smith, Player of the Year<\/p>\n

These awards recognised individual achievement, but also reflected the teamwork, commitment and support of the entire playing groups.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the people behind the game<\/p>\n

The evening also highlighted the important contribution of referees, technical officials, coaches, volunteers and administrators.<\/p>\n

Referees are an essential part of basketball, and St George Basketball recognised Joshua Kingston as Referee of the Year, Michael Lai as Most Improved Referee and Brody Turner as Junior Referee of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"RefereeeReferee Awards<\/p>\n

A special acknowledgement was also made to Technical Official Program Manager Davina Kuang for her contribution to the Association\u2019s technical officials program.<\/p>\n

The senior coaching group was recognised for its dedication throughout the season, with James Needle, Luther Shannon, Paul Thanos, Row Owens and George Aliferis acknowledged for their work with the senior representative teams.<\/p>\n

\"LutherLuther Shannon, Coach of the Year<\/p>\n

The prestigious Ray Barbi Coach of the Year Award was presented to Luther Shannon, recognising another outstanding season of coaching and leadership.<\/p>\n

The Valerie Stoddart Association Player of the Year Award was awarded to Tao Smith of Youth League Men Red, while Ava Jukic was recognised as the Association\u2019s Female Athlete of the Year following her achievements with the Youth League Women and U18 Girls programs.<\/p>\n

A special thank you to our sponsors, partners and supporters<\/p>\n

During the evening, St George Basketball Treasurer and Board Member George Aliferis took the opportunity to express his sincere appreciation to the Association\u2019s sponsors, partners and supporters.<\/p>\n

George acknowledged the important role these organisations and individuals play in helping St George Basketball continue to grow, provide opportunities for players and deliver a strong representative program.<\/p>\n

Their support extends beyond financial contributions. It helps the Association create opportunities for players, support coaches and officials, provide resources for teams and continue building a positive basketball environment for the wider community.<\/p>\n

St George Basketball proudly recognised its sponsors and partners, including Platinum Sponsors City Ford Rockdale and Wellness Department, Diamond Sponsor Club Rivers, Gold Sponsor Lantern Club, and Silver Sponsors Club Central and St George Leagues Club.<\/p>\n

\"YouthYouth League Mens White<\/p>\n

\"YouthYouth League Womens Award Winners<\/p>\n

The Association also acknowledged its media partners, The St George Leader and The Greek Herald, for their continued support in promoting St George Basketball and sharing the achievements of its players and teams.<\/p>\n

George also extended his thanks to the families, volunteers, Board members, administration staff and game-day officials whose efforts behind the scenes help keep the Association moving forward.<\/p>\n

People, family and basketball \u2014 in that order<\/p>\n

While the awards were an important part of the evening, the central message of the night was about the strength of the St George Basketball family.<\/p>\n

Every player who represented the Association throughout the season deserves recognition for their pride, commitment and respect.<\/p>\n

The coaches and team staff dedicated countless hours to developing players, building teams and creating opportunities for young athletes to grow both on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\"SeniorSenior Head Coaches (Left to right): James Needle, George Aliferis, Luther Shannon, Roe Woens, Paul Thanos.<\/p>\n

\"MensSt George Saints Mens Red<\/p>\n

The referees and technical officials ensured the game could be played, while volunteers, administrators and Board members worked tirelessly behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

And, of course, there were the families.<\/p>\n

Their encouragement, support and commitment throughout the season remain a fundamental part of the St George Basketball experience. From early morning games and long weekends to the highs and challenges of representative basketball, families continue to play an enormous role in the success of the Association.<\/p>\n

The Presentation Night was a celebration of all those contributions.<\/p>\n

It was about the friendships created, the lessons learned, the challenges overcome and the memories that will remain long after the final whistle.<\/p>\n

\"SGBASGBA Board (left to right): Con Angelis, Luther Shannon, Jae Wydveld, Ray Barbi, George Aliferis, Valerie Stoddart, Paul Thanos.<\/p>\n

Looking towards the future<\/p>\n

As the 2026 senior representative season comes to a close, St George Basketball can reflect on a year filled with achievement, development and community spirit.<\/p>\n

The progression of Youth League Men Red to Division 1 provides another important step forward for the Association, while the continued development of all five senior representative teams highlights the strength and potential of the Saints\u2019 basketball program.<\/p>\n

The Association remains committed to providing opportunities for players, supporting coaches and officials, and building a strong future for basketball in the St George community.<\/p>\n

From the players on the court to the families in the stands, the coaches on the sidelines, the referees, volunteers, sponsors, partners and supporters behind the scenes, the night captured what St George Basketball is all about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St George Basketball Association celebrated a memorable 2026 senior representative season on Saturday, 19 September, with a fantastic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-904624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}