Australia is never left behind in terms of sports especially in basketball.
They are one of the countries whose citizens are very much into basketball and the country is very active in international tournaments as well. Australian citizens created a lot of amateur basketball competitions too for them to keep the popularity and visibility of basketball in the country.
Australia like any other countries have teams that is representing the country internationally. In fact a number of international representative Australian teams are formed
BOOMERS
First in line is the Boomers, they are Australia’s senior men’s team which got their name from an Australian slang term for Kangaroo. Traditionally they are selected to make up the team which will compete in the Australian National Basketball League but this has changed as of now boomers have four players in NBA.
Due to the fact that boomers is a men’s team in which basketball is widely played by men they are considered one of the best Australian teams in the country. Here are some of the famous teams in the country:
OPALS
The Opals are nicknamed for the Australia Women’s National Basketball Team. They had a lot of achievements like winning the gold medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in year 2006 which they had defeated the New Zealand’s Tall Ferns in the Final match having a score of 77-39.
Another gold medal was gained by the team in the same year in the FIBA World Championship for Women which they had beaten Russia having a score of 91-74. The Opals are known for they are the first non-American team since Brazil in 1994 to become world champions in FIBA. They were also active in Olympics where they were first introduced in year 1976 at Montreal, their achievements in Olympics includes three silver medals and one bronze medal.
GLIDERS
The Gliders are the Australia’s senior women’s wheelchair team which competes in Wheelchair basketball competitions in some countries such as Canada, Australia and England.
It is one of the Australian teams which is widely known because of the fact that it is unique, basketball is absolutely fun and exciting what more if it has a twist right? the gliders though has disabilities had gained achievements as well, they in fact ranked 4th after being beaten by Canadians in this year’s World Championship held in Birmingham, England.
Here are also some of Australian teams:
The Crocodiles, Australia’s junior (under-21) men’s team: Runners Up’ to Greece at the World Championships 1995 and were the winners on home soil at the World Championships in 1997.
The Gems, Australia’s junior (under-21) women’s team: 2nd place at the World Championships 1997 behind the USA.
The Gliders, Australia’s senior women’s wheelchair basketball team: won silver medal in the Athens Paralympics, finishing behind the United States of America.
The Rollers, Australia’s senior men’s wheelchair basketball team: The Rollers took the silver medal in the Athens Paralympics, finishing behind Canada and took gold in Beijing 2008.