Team Manager's Guide to Basketball Australia Nationals Under 16-Under 20 2023

• Each team may have a maximum of 12 players.
• Under 16 and Under 18: one team per gender from each of 13 regions: ACT, NSW Country, NSW Metropolitan, Northern Territory, Queensland North, Queensland South, South Australia Country, South Australia Metropolitan, Tasmania, Victoria Country, Victoria Metropolitan, Western Australia Country and Western Australia Metropolitan.
• Under 20: one team from each of 8 States and Territories. Two other teams can be invited to bring the total to ten in each of the men's and women's divisions, selected in this order: NBA Global and any other international team, the host state, then final placings from the year before. A state can have a maximum of two teams in a competition.
• Invited teams in the National Championship age categories are ineligible for quarter finals and are automatically classified last in their pool after the minor round.
• The Nationals are not held if 5 teams or fewer nominate.

In all competitions a player must:

• be under the stated age as at 31 December in the year of the competition;
• hold a permanent or temporary resident visa for Australia, be an Australian citizen or have refugee status (proof must accompany each individual online nomination; this does not apply to players with invited teams);
• have lived in the State or Territory they wish to represent for at least 3 months immediately before the Championships start.

A player may compete in only 1 age group of the National Championships in any one year (this does not apply to players in invited teams).

Special eligibility

• A player (or the family of an under 18 player) who moves state without meeting the 3 months may be granted a special exemption to represent the new state. The new state must apply at least 6 weeks before the Championships start.
• A player who moves from the Northern Territory with family or alone for school may still represent the Northern Territory, subject to the agreement of the State or Territory where they now live.
• Residents of Broken Hill NSW are eligible for selection for South Australia, and residents of Queanbeyan NSW for the ACT.
• Players residing overseas, or in Canberra with the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence or NBA Global Academy, do not need the 3 months residency and can play for their home State or Territory. A player at the Centre of Excellence or NBA Global Academy not required by their home State or Territory may represent the ACT.
• Players who moved state to play in the NBL or WNBL do not need the 3 months residency and can represent their previous State or Territory.

Team nominations are completed online. Nominations open 10 weeks before the competition starts and close 8 weeks before the start of the tournament. Teams then receive confirmation of registration through an automated system containing their team code and password.

Individual registrations

• All participants, including players, coaches and support staff, must complete the online individual registration form.
• They are due 4 weeks before the start of the championships.
• By completing the form, participants agree to comply with the tournament policies and codes of conduct.
• After registrations close, Basketball Australia sends each team a confirmation of its entry and all registered participants. Teams must respond to confirm all details are correct. Non-response may result in exclusion of players and/or teams from the tournament.

Proof of residency status (Australian citizenship, a permanent or temporary resident visa, or refugee status) must be shown to Basketball Australia and accompany each individual online nomination.

• Head Coaches at a National Championship must hold a current Association coach accreditation (formerly NCAS Level 2).
• Assistant Coaches must hold a current Club coach accreditation (formerly NCAS Level 1).
• These requirements are monitored by the State or Territory the team represents.

• All teams must attend the Technical Meeting and confirm their team registrations. Failure to do so may result in exclusion from the tournament and/or a fine determined by Basketball Australia.
• Each team must finalise its roster at the pre-tournament technical meeting. After that no changes may be made and no further players added throughout the tournament.
• Any additional registrations on the day of the technical meeting are subject to acceptance by the National Championships Technical Committee.
• On arrival at the Technical Meeting, team managers must make sure the correct team names, players' names and playing numbers have been provided.
• Scoresheets are generated from FIBA Live Stats. Copies of the scoresheet and summary sheet are available to teams as soon as possible after the referees approve them.
• Full player statistics are taken and made available online within a reasonable time after each game.
• Training sessions are limited and based on court availability. Teams request them through their assigned competition manager and they cost an amount per hour per court.

Players

• Uniforms follow the Official Basketball Rules of FIBA. Each singlet is numbered front and back in a contrasting colour: back at least 20 cm high, front at least 10 cm high, numbers at least 2 cm wide. Numbers 0-99 (and 00) are permitted, and team-mates cannot share a number.
• Teams need an alternate set of uniforms in a different colour (ideally one distinctly light and one distinctly dark), with the same numbers in both.
• Each team must carry at least 2 spare playing shirts and shorts or bodysuits in case a uniform is spoilt by blood. They must have different numbers from those on the scoresheet.
• Team A (first listed in the draw) has the right to wear its main colour. If there is a clash, team B changes. Teams receive a handout of uniform colours at the Technical Meeting.
• State identification must be clearly visible on the front of the singlet. Advertising must be approved by Basketball Australia (sponsorship proposals no later than 3 months before the Championship) and advertising of betting, alcohol or tobacco products is prohibited.
• Compression sleeves, headgear, wristbands and headbands must all be the same solid dominant colour as the uniform, or black, white or skin colour, and the same for all team members. Ankle or knee braces follow the same colours. No T-shirts under singlets without approval on medical or extenuating grounds.

Staff

• Coaching staff: dress pants or skirt with a polo or sports shirt is the minimum.
• Team managers and other non-coaching staff may wear the team tracksuit because of the tasks they perform during games.

• Teams must be at the venue at least 20 minutes before the fixtured start time of their game. A team not present at the scheduled game time is considered to have forfeited.
• Team A (first listed in the program) sits on the left-hand side of the bench when facing the court, team B on the right.
• Teams must not occupy the team bench area until the previous game's benches have been vacated and cleaned.
• Change rooms are allocated for use from after half time of the previous game until the end of half time of the team's own game.
• Basketball Australia may approve a delayed start time in exceptional circumstances, and that decision is final.
• All game balls are provided, and the referee brings the game ball to each match. Teams must supply their own training basketballs.
• Forfeits: a team that plays an unregistered player loses the game, and a team that without valid reason fails to appear or withdraws from the court before the end of the game loses by forfeit. In both cases the game is awarded to the opponents 20-0. Forfeiture carries a fine of up to $10,000 and further disciplinary action by Basketball Australia Integrity.
• Opening and closing ceremonies: all teams must attend, in full state tracksuit or uniform (all players the same). There is no opening ceremony at the Under 20 championships.

At the time of the incident
The captain or coach makes their observations to the referee in a calm and courteous manner, either immediately if the ball is dead and the clock stopped, or at the first time-out that follows. The referee responds with an explanation or appropriate action.

If the team still believes it has been disadvantaged at the end of the game

1. The captain reports to the score table and tells the scorer, and the referee through the scorer, that the team is protesting the result.
2. The captain or coach makes the National Championships Manager aware the team is "Protesting the result".
3. The coach or team representative confirms the protest in writing within 20 minutes of the end of the game. No details are required at this point. It must be accompanied by a $500 guarantee given to a member of the Championship Technical Committee.
4. The text of the protest must be submitted to the Chairman of the Championship Technical Committee within 1 hour of the end of the game.

The Technical Committee hears all appeals and protests.

Appeal
If the team or the opposing team does not agree with the Technical Committee's decision, it may lodge an appeal with the Basketball Australia Integrity Department before the next series of games, with a $500 guarantee. The decision of the Integrity Department is final.

The heat policy is designed to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of players, team personnel, officials and spectators.

• In extreme situations the Technical Committee may reschedule matches to avoid peak heat, and will liaise with teams about game time changes well in advance, with travel logistics amended accordingly.
• Every stadium must have a thermometer. On days when the ambient temperature inside the venue reaches 30 degrees Celsius, the court temperature must be taken hourly while the stadium is in use and recorded in a permanent record kept at the stadium.
• If the temperature inside the stadium is 31 degrees or above, the referees must call an additional compulsory time-out in each quarter if no time-out has been called by halfway through the quarter. The first and third quarter breaks are extended from two minutes to three.
• If the stadium temperature reaches 36 degrees or above, the game must be abandoned.
• Where high temperatures are expected, organisers must make reasonable attempts to ensure first aid and medical personnel are accessible, venue officials know the symptoms of heat stress, players can cool themselves with water and fans, players know to hydrate before and after the game, and adequate ice and ice packs are available.
• A game abandoned under the heat policy is decided by the same formula as any abandoned game: a margin of 20 or more points stands at the score when abandoned; under 20 points before half time, or under 10 points between half and three-quarter time, means the game is abandoned and League Management decides whether it is replayed; after three-quarter time the result stands.

• The Basketball Australia Doping Policy applies to the National Championships. Managers receive a reminder of it from Basketball Australia 30 days before the Championships start, and should know its provisions.
• No player should compete without the legal requirements of their medications being checked first.
• Team members who need medication should carry a typed copy of the script with the generic name and an adequate supply for the Championship, plus a doctor's statement identifying the medicine and its purpose.
• Team members should give the manager their prescriptions as early as possible so the legal status can be checked.
• An athlete who needs a prohibited medication for a legitimate medical condition can apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). Before applying, the athlete must check with their sporting organisation that TUEs are allowed under the sport's anti-doping policy.
• If an athlete is tested, any substances they take must be declared on the testing paperwork, in addition to any TUE.
• The 2023 regulations name ASADA as Australia's anti-doping agency. ASADA became part of Sport Integrity Australia in July 2020, so TUE applications and questions about the status of a medication now go to Sport Integrity Australia (sportintegrity.gov.au).

Alcohol

• Basketball Australia forbids players, whether of legal age or not, from consuming alcohol for the whole of the Nationals. That runs from the arrival of the first competing team or official to the departure of the last.
• Host Venue, Team Coaches and Managers are responsible for enforcing the policy.
• Coaches and managers are expected to use discretion and restraint. Alcohol should not be consumed in the presence of team members or other participating players, or before the day's basketball commitments are finished.
• Team officials found to have condoned or supplied alcohol to team members or participating players face severe disciplinary action.

Smoking
Smoking is not allowed at any site associated with the championships. All sites and venues are "Smoke Free Zones" for the duration of the Championship.

Code of conduct and integrity

• By completing the registration forms, all participants agree to be bound by the Basketball Australia Code of Conduct and to have their photograph taken by Basketball Australia and affiliated media, with photos possibly used for promotional purposes.
• All participants are bound by Basketball Australia's National Integrity Framework.
• All athletes, coaches and team support personnel must take part in Basketball Australia Integrity Unit education programs as directed.

Under the regulations, flights are equalised over all teams (excluding additional teams) in each of the National Championship age categories. Flight costs are equalised for 13 total players and staff.

• Any additional players or team staff over 13 must be paid for directly by the State or Territory.
• Any changes made after the equalisation has been calculated must be paid by the individual State or Territory.
• There are two equalisations: one for teams, which goes out before the event, and one for technical officials, which goes out after the event.