Surfcoast Basketball secretary Rebecca Lewis crowned the state’s volunteer of the year

A Surf Coast sporting servant has been received a major acknowledgment at Basketball Victoria’s annual awards for overseeing an explosion in total player numbers.

A community-minded Surf Coast basketball servant has been acknowledged for overseeing a major increase in local player numbers over the past two years.

Surfcoast Basketball Association secretary Rebecca Lewis scored Basketball Victoria’s Volunteer of the Year award earlier this month at its annual gongs.

However, despite the large volume of hours spent at the SBA, it’s a side hustle for Lewis’ man job: running a caravan park in Alice Springs.

The mother of three was reluctant to reveal how many hours she puts into local hoops, with her role veering from social media, catering to fostering the next generation of players by managing the beginner program Aussie Hoops.

“I won’t make that public or my husband will divorce me,” Lewis said with a laugh.

“It’s a great community to be part of.”

Rebecca Lewis was crowned Basketball Victoria's volunteer of the year. Picture: Basketball Victoria.

In a statement, Basketball Victoria said Lewis had been “instrumental” in the growth of the association in domestic and representative teams and “always keeps a strong connection with the community”.

Lewis said the SBA had continued to grow despite Covid sucking the life out of local sport.

Total player numbers have jumped from around 900 to more than 1800 over the past two years to the 2022-23 summer season.

“It’s been a challenging few years with Covid,” she said.

“But we’ve managed to grow while Covid was happening, it’s been a pretty big growth period down here.

“We must have just established ourselves with a good culture so people want to come to us.”

Lewis, who avoids the spotlight and is happy being a behind-the-scenes type, was overwhelmed by her award win, calling it a “pretty big honour”.

“I didn’t know about it, everybody else in my life did, apparently,” she said.

“They knew if I knew I was getting an award I wouldn’t have gone (to the awards).

“I really don’t like the attention, I’m definitely a behind-the-scenes kind of person.”

Lewis, who was also heavily involved in Swan Hill basketball for many years – including work in a communications role and coaching – said Aussie Hoops was her favourite part of volunteering, with the program guiding children aged five to 10.

“I really enjoy seeing kids progress with their basketball,” she said.

“It’s all about the kids for me ... that’s my best part of the week.

“I love seeing them enjoy themselves in basketball, that’s the best.”

One of those young players is her 14-year-old daughter Sunday who plays with Surfcoast at an Under 16 level.

Originally published as Surfcoast Basketball secretary Rebecca Lewis crowned the state’s volunteer of the year