Basketball: Junior Tall Blacks players forced to pay $5000 to play at U19 World Cup

The Junior Tall Blacks finished fourth at the U19 World Cup. Photo / Fiba

Despite the Junior Tall Blacks achieving a historic fourth-place finish at the Under-19 Basketball World Cup, it came at a significant financial cost for the players and their families to represent New Zealand on the world stage.

Each player had to contribute $5000 towards the trip to Switzerland, an amount Basketball New Zealand worked hard to reduce from an initial cost of $10,000 through fundraising and savings.

According to acting chief executive of Basketball New Zealand, Belinda Edwards, out of the 16 nations that took part, New Zealand was the only country at the tournament where players had to personally pay to compete.

The issue is nothing new for Basketball New Zealand and is one of the reasons NBA star Steven Adams has never donned the black singlet for the Tall Blacks, as his family was unable to afford the funds to play at junior level.

Edwards told Newstalk ZB that it’s something the organisation is desperate to address.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” said Edwards, “especially when these high-performing athletes are going to multiple campaigns year on year, sometimes more than one a year.

“It’s incredibly expensive and creates a real barrier. The funding model in New Zealand just doesn’t suit a truly global sport like basketball.

“Travel costs are rising, and we’re going to the other side of the world more and more.”

Edwards said Basketball New Zealand’s funding challenges were long-standing, with limited support from High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPNZ).

Despite basketball’s growing popularity, the current funding system focuses heavily on podium finishes and Olympic cycles.

As a result, sports like rowing, yachting, and athletics have seen increases, while others, such as equestrian, swimming, and triathlon, have faced cuts.

Edwards believes the system needs to be re-evaluated, but concedes that HPNZ is also limited by Government funding.

“There needs to be some sort of weighting for the truly global sports, rather than just podium finishers,” said Edwards. “Fourth in the world is phenomenal and deserves recognition.”

Despite the challenges, optimism remains high within the sport.

New Zealand’s result equalled the country’s best finish in the 5x5 format, achieved by the 2002 senior Tall Blacks and the 2024 Under-17 side, which featured five players from the current U19 side.

Many of the players are off to US colleges on scholarships, and Basketball New Zealand is targeting strong campaigns for the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

“We’re incredibly proud,” said Edwards. “All the signs are certainly pointing in the right direction, and we’re certainly working towards some podium finishers in the future.”

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.