Hi Rioters,
It was brought to our attention recently that despite having an office in Canberra, we really haven’t done enough to let Canberrans know who we are and what we’re doing in your backyard.
The Big Bangs are an international not-for-profit, running in 11 countries and based right here, in Canberra.
With a volunteer staff of 80 worldwide, we are proudly one of the very few charities who keep their admin costs under 7% per annum; not a single staff member is paid, not even our CEO. (CEO’s note: I get t-shirts instead).
We focus all our projects around a central team in every country in which we work. We don’t believe in parachute development; our teams are comprised of locals as well as foreign volunteers, with the bulk of projects and programs being run by local youth themselves.
We provide young people with the tools and environment they need to inspire positive, proactive change. We aim to provide an outlet for those children least able to be children, be it in a slum, in a neighbourhood, on an inner-city street. We seek to remove the inevitable divides between classes and social groups, and instead teach the importance and value of teamwork, as well as the incredible and often surprising benefits that sports has as a unifying and motivating element in an otherwise divided and unmotivated world.
We share our love and respect for the game and its teachings with all the kids we serve; we teach responsibility, loyalty, hard work and dedication, trust in each other and above all, respect towards others and pride in oneself.
We furthermore use the game to motivate young people to further their education, look after their health, support their own communities and become masters of their own fates.
In Canberra, on top of sponsorships and camps, we run 2 main programs:
Night Hoops: a packed Saturday night where kids can be in a safe environment, be fed healthy, well, almost always healthy, food, and enjoy the game of basketball. Through a combination of basketball tournaments and life skills workshops, we aim to offer an experience that provides young people with a safe, healthy and positive environment at times when they may be vulnerable to harmful and anti-social behavior.
Youth Justice Program: A modified version of our Skills Camp, over the course of 8 weeks, focus is on the technical aspects of basketball as well as developing the capacity of incarcerated youth to identify positive, effective solutions in both their social interactions and ability to deal with emotional and physical stress. Aimed at all levels of players, with teamwork, openness and positive attitude taught hand in hand with basketball fundamentals, drills and plays.
A “zero-tolerance” method is used to enforce discipline and positive conduct, with great emphasis on both the collective good and the individual’s responsibility to the group.
We’ve been shown a lot of love from the Canberra community, so thank you for the continued support!
Big Bangs
www.bigbangballers.org
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