An Olympic dream is driving Indigenous Basketball Australia
Patty Mills and IBA are continuing to change the game for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Credit: Indigenous Basketball Australia
The Brisbane 2032 Olympics are now less than a decade away. It has Indigenous Basketball Australia (IBA) dreaming of seeing a graduate of their program on the Olympic basketball stage, when the most influential global sporting event returns to Australia. With a mission so lofty, it makes the appointment of their new Chief Operating Officer (COO) a timely and welcome boost.
Melody Cooper OLY recently stepped into the COO role with IBA and there is a clear mandate: driving forward the growth and strategic direction of the organisation. Cooper, Māori & Cook Island Māori woman, is a former field hockey player who represented New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics. She has since forged a career on the business side sports, having fused sport and culture in her recent role as Head of Multicultural & Community at the Australian Basketball Players Association. Working in this role is how Cooper got to know Mills and those involved with IBA leadership. There was a natural pull to the work IBA was doing.
“I was gravitated towards IBA and really passionate about what IBA stands for,” Cooper explained, when speaking with The Pick and Roll. “With what Patty has done with Team Mills, my personal values are very much aligned with what they've been doing over the last few years.”
Credit: Indigenous Basketball Australia
IBA was born in the days of COVID-19 lockdowns across 2020. In the midst of a global pandemic, a group led by Mills and his family sat on Zoom calls to crystallise plans to support the next generation of young Indigenous basketball players in Australian - Jacqui Neill wonderfully outlined the origins of IBA in February 2021. Over the past two years, IBA has introduced tournaments and programs, starting with the 14s and under age group, while delivering the program across eight regions around the country. Cooper’s appointment signals the next shift in operation focus as IBA attempts to graduate from start up to established organisation.
“My role really is to operationalise that vision [Patty Mills] has created and carry that through on the ground here, whilst he can continue playing and focusing on the playing side of things. He's a phenomenal human and, having the support of his family, you can feel that with every single aspect that you do.
“My role now is to really understand exactly where IBA is going. And it's quite clear, with 2032 and the Brisbane Olympics. That's where we're heading. We hope to have players compete there, or coaches from our programme coaching for Australia. That's what we're building as a pathway, but also a program that can help a lot of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders find out who they are. Culture is at the heart of IBA, as well as community and that sense of belonging. Basketball was just the tool that brings everybody together.”
Cooper’s last line in that quote carriers so much weight. There are lofty goals for those involved with IBA; the Olympic quest is one that cuts through the mainstream and one that carries social weight everyone can understand. But there is a larger game at play, and basketball is just the sporting quest that allows societal change to progress forward.
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