St Laurence Geelong Supercats player Jason Reardon has joined a squad of elite basketballers selected to play in a two-game ‘friendly’ series against the Qatar National Team in February.
Following a request in late 2009, Basketball Australia has organized a team to travel to Doha, Qatar to assist the preparation of the Qatar Men’s Basketball Team for competition in Asia later this year by way of the two-game series and coaching clinics.
With the Australia’s own National Men’s Team, the Boomers, already committed to an extensive program this year as preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was able to accept the challenge of preparing a team in the short time frame.
SEABL appointed 2009 East Conference Coach of the Year Bruce Palmer and 2009 South Conference Coach of the Year Bill Runchey to lead a group of SEABL players chosen from a selection trial held at Frankston from January 16-17.
Jason will depart with the team from Australia on February 19 for the games to be played on February 22 and 24 in Doha.
Supercats head coach Jamie O’Loughlin says that whilst Jason will miss several training sessions and a scheduled trial game against Ballarat at the Arena on February 20th, the opportunity and selection is unique and Jason deserves every opportunity to perform at the highest level.
This experience will only add to his value with the Supercats playing roster in 2010