The Eltham Wildcats Basketball Club and RMIT University are pleased to announce they’ve gone into a partnership for 2021. This partnership was set to commence in 2020 prior to COVID-19 and will see RMIT University and the Wildcats attack the basketball landscape in a unique agreement, one of which compliments the setup of both organisations, on and off the court.
Manager of Sport Development and Partnerships at RMIT Sally Tanner is excited about the opportunities the new partnership will provide.
“RMIT University is thrilled to partner with the Eltham Wildcats Basketball Club and we look forward to working together on the growth and development of the game. Our students are excited about supporting the Eltham Wildcats through multiple programs across the University including Complementary Medicine, Sports Science and Media & Communications.
“RMIT Basketball is seeking to provide local and international students alike opportunity and pathways in the game and this partnership provides and an abundance of these.”
The additional resources and benefits the partnership will add to all levels of the Eltham Wildcats is an exciting proposition for Eltham Basketball CEO Greg Jeffers.
“We strived to be selected for NBL1 when it was created in 2018 for the benefit of our club with long term ambitions of remaining there beyond 2021.
“One of the things we’ve identified since our inception is the need to provide our teams with additional resources, but also our wider playing membership with more opportunity, something RMIT has in abundance at their outstanding facilities.”
In 2019 the Wildcats entered NBL1 while RMIT also entered a Big V Men’s team for the first time looking to grow their involvement for 2020 with additional Women’s and Youth Men’s teams. Well known for it’s programs across Media & Communication, RMIT’s social media presence was amongst the best of any club in Big V competitions. At the Unisport Australia Nationals they were awarded ‘Outstanding Social Media campaign’ winners across 2018 and 2019.
The heart and soul of the Eltham Wildcats is to provide pathways and opportunities. The club has been investigating ways it could further help graduating junior players with more opportunity and assistance as they finished in VJBL or even through their senior careers.
“We felt that with the amount of talent graduating from our junior program that we needed more opportunity outside of our Youth and NBL1 teams for players, coaches and game staff to work toward and progress through. With RMIT’s growing program currently fielding men’s, women’s and youth teams across the Big V in a professional, but fun environment, it provides an outstanding avenue for our members,” said Jeffers.
For these two large organisations, both of whom in their fields are developing and excelling, the partnership provides endless opportunities both on and off the court. With RMIT as a leading university and the Wildcats providing not just basketball, but education and employment opportunities to its young members; the partnership is one we’re likely to see blossom in the years ahead.
Eltham Wildcats CEO Greg Jeffers and RMIT Redbacks Big V Import Steve Coffey
