Grammar battles through ahead of GPS opener

IT’S been a pre-season like no other, but Toowoomba Grammar is primed for the first round of GPS basketball.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Grammar First V coach Kabe Cicolini leading his side through an interactive training session in May. Picture: Kevin Farmer

BASKETBALL: Kabe Cicolini has a wealth of coaching experience across many levels of basketball.

The First V Toowoomba Grammar coach was given a fresh task in the lead-up to this year’s GPS season with the pandemic limiting face-to-face contact.

It’s been tough, but he said the group has stayed motivated through the online sessions, making it through to full contact training and their first round fixture this afternoon.

“It was a pretty odd pre-season and not the normal thing for us,” he said.

“The boys did a good job of staying engaged with skill development and their strength and conditioning online.

“With restrictions lifted it’s been good to get them back on court, and they’re excited to get back on the court and compete.

“We’ve been back on court for about a month. Restrictions lifted during holidays while we were in the middle of one of our camps.

“We were able to adjust some of our scheduling to get them on court. Preparation has been limited which is less than ideal, we’ve only had the one scrimmage against the second Mountaineers QSL group, but we’ve made the most of it.”

While their opportunities on court have been limited, Cicolini is hoping a strong Grammar culture will make up for any rust.

“We’ve relied on some of the foundations we’ve built before,” he said.

“We’ve focused on instilling a culture, system, framework and style of play that all Grammar basketballers can identify with.

“It means we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every year. There’s a good buy in from our players, and it makes the transitions from non-contact to contact much easier, and allows us to hit the ground running.”

Grammar has been able to maintain a strong core group from last year’s campaign, and Cicolini said the group has a firm goal in their sights.

“We graduated four of our players from our squad of 15 last year, and with 10 or 11 returning players, it makes for good continuity,” he said.

“The big expectation is that we have a winning season. 4-4 was the goal last year, and we finished 3-5 which we were disappointed with.

“At CBSQ (Champion Basketball School of Queensland tournament) we wanted to do the same and finished 5-2.

“In the big games we finished 8-7, which is a good framework for us, and we want to build on that.

“We’d like to get four or more wins in the GPS and finish higher than we did in the CBSQ.”

Toowoomba Grammar commences its GPS campaign today at home against Brisbane Grammar School.

SQUAD: Ngaa Ngorima, Josh Allen, Greg Spurgin, Peter Deng, Gus Scott, Nick Nugent, Samuel Harmsworth, Mutsa Zimbwa, Sam Benbow, Tom Stonestreet, Jett Bennett, Bailey Biggar, James Nugent

FIXTURES: vs Brisbane Grammar 18/7, vs Gregory Terrace 25/7, vs Ipswich Grammar 8/8, at Southport 15/8, vs Nudgee 22/8, at Brisbane State High 29/8, at Brisbane Boys 5/9, vs Churchie 12/8

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