Townsville Fire put through paces by Army to build connection and resilience

Townsville’s WNBL side were whisked away to Lavarack Barracks on Friday for an afternoon of physical and mental challenges that will set them up for a successful season.

Players from Townsville Fire Basketball team visit Lavarack Barracks to do team bonding through different army training scenarios run by the PTI's at Townsville, Queensland.

The Townsville Fire stood unaware at their stadium as two army bushmaster’s pulled up and whisked them away to base, putting them through their paces for an afternoon of pre-season team building exercises.

Decked out in camo pants, the fresh faced fire team set off running around Lavarack barracks gymnasium in a combination of mental and physical challenges before they were escorted to the pool for some training in the military dinghies.

Townsville Fire General Manager Sam Pascoe said that the experience and lessons that the 3rd Brigade provided them in their pre-season set them up for success leading into the competition.

Players from Townsville Fire Basketball team visit Lavarack Barracks to do team bonding through different army training scenarios run by the PTI's at Townsville, Queensland.

“There’s so much that the players, the coaching staff and even myself can learn from being a part of these initiatives with the army,” she said.

Fire head coach Shannon Seebohm met with the army personnel involved earlier in the week to create a program that would build resilience within the team.

“They really nailed exactly what he was hoping to get from it,” Ms Pascoe said.

“No WNBL team have these opportunities or have these relationships with the army. It’s not lost on us that we are the only organisation in the country that is allowed to wear the emblem on our uniform and it’s something we take a lot of pride in.”

Players from Townsville Fire Basketball team visit Lavarack Barracks to do team bonding through different army training scenarios run by the PTI's at Townsville, Queensland.

Senior Health Officer of 3rd Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Simon O’Regan said that it was great to have the team back on base after the training exercise didn’t go ahead in 2023.

“Obviously we’ve had a relationship since 2016/17, and I guess over the last couple of years they’ve been extremely successful,” he said.

Players from Townsville Fire Basketball team visit Lavarack Barracks to do team bonding through different army training scenarios run by the PTI's at Townsville, Queensland.

“It’ll put a few of them out of their comfort zone that will force them to get creative with how they come together.”

The theme for the training camp was ‘values’, as Lieutenant Colonel O’Regan said that successful teams thrive off of being connected with their club and teammates.

“It’s really important for a new team to come in, learn about the history of the club and then have a voice in their pathway on what the values actually mean to them because it’ll actually set them up for a successful season,” he said.

Players from Townsville Fire Basketball team visit Lavarack Barracks to do team bonding through different army training scenarios run by the PTI's at Townsville, Queensland.

“If you look at army values to a soldier, its about the team, it’s about bringing your individual strengths to the team and doing our job and defending and representing our nation and for the fire our values have got deep connections.”

“They wear the rising run on their uniform so that in itself is a huge thing as well and emphasise the importance of that, but values are everything in a team sport.”

Originally published as Townsville Fire put through paces by Army to build connection and resilience