Geraldton “All Abilities” Buccaneers squad puts up impressive 3-1 record in Perth for first games together

After weeks of training and hard work, the Geraldton “All Abilities” Squad had a successful outing in their first games together in Perth.

Spearheaded by Tanya Rubery and coached by Dan Hunt, the team travelled to Perth for the tournament – putting up an impressive 3-1 record.

Hunt said that he jumped at the opportunity to coach the team.

“Tanya Rubery came to me and said she wanted me to coach an all abilities team . . . I thought it was wheelchair basketball – but it’s not,” he said.

“All these guys are able bodied and they don’t want to play wheelchair basketball.

“I said yeah and reacted straightaway – usually I fob those things off as far as coaching requests because I’m busy coaching a lot.

“For some reason I said yes straight away, it was the damnedest thing, I didn’t even think twice.”

The team had help at training from some pretty handy players, with members of the Geraldton Buccaneers coming down to join in scrimmages.

“The first time we had training we had a scrimmage, we had the Buccs players down there like Josh Braun, Johny Narkle and Josh Keyes, they all came to help out and joined in scrimmages – it was such a community thing,” Hunt said.

“First scrimmage we struggled the rotation from offence to defence . . . we just kept getting better and better.”

The tournament wasn’t about putting up results but bringing the players and teams together, although Hunt said the Geraldton side still brought a competitive flare.

“It’s not about winning or losing, I know we say that all the time, but that is not what this tournament is about – it’s really about sportsmanship,” he said.

“But these guys are super competitive on both sides, everybody does celebrate a goal from either team, it is quite cool.

“It was fantastic . . . everybody was excited – coaches, parents, the athletes, the whole gym was a buzz.”

Hunt gave Rubery her flowers, saying that it couldn’t have happened without her.

“I can’t push Tanya Rubery enough . . . if it wasn’t for her, it never would have happened – all I had to do was coach and she took care of everything else,” he said.

While there are no plans set for the side yet, it likely won’t be the last time the squad hits the court.

“When we were in Perth, teams were saying they couldn’t believe we made the trip all the way down,” Hunt said.

“Then it turned into what does a tournament in Geraldton look like, so I don’t know what that looks like – it’s bigger than me, but a lot of interesting conversations.

“We’ll still work it out, but I’d be very surprised if we didn’t go again, it was such a success in all areas.”