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Home News Road to Xiamen: Oceania teams back to impress

Road to Xiamen: Oceania teams back to impress

12 September 2017

Both the men’s and women’s teams from Lincoln University, along with Macquarie University on the men’s and Monash University on the women’s side are set to compete in the 2017 Finals

 

XIAMEN — With tip off to the 3×3 FISU World University League finals less than two days away, it’s time to check in the Australian and New Zealand teams that will represent Oceania.

 

 

Making it through Continental qualifying play are both the men’s and the women’s team from Lincoln University.

 

 

Joining the New Zealand contingent are two Australian universities, Macquarie University on the men’s and Monash University on the women’s side.

 

Competition begins on Thursday (Sept 14) with team pool play. The dunk and shootout contests are on Saturday, Day3 of the tournament.

 

When FISU launched the World University League as a new sports property within its sports programme, the key conceptual change came in promoting competition between university teams instead of national teams as is the tradition for most countries in FISU’s Championships and Universiade events. Since the inaugural edition of this tournament in 2015, Australian University Sport (AUS) embraced the concept wholeheartedly and launched the 3×3 Basketball Championship.

 

 AUS takes 3×3 from a campus activation all the way through to the international stage. “Australian University Sport is excited by the opportunity to engage all 42 of our university members in the qualification process in support of FISU’s WUL 3×3 Basketball project, said Dr Deidre Anderson, the President of Australian University Sport. “This is very solid pathway program for us.”

 

The University of Auckland competing in the inaugural event in 2016  

With no quarters or halftime, basketball players say the 3×3 game puts a premium on fitness and athleticism.

 

 

“You play more games a day, rather than 5×5 where you have a game a day,” Lincoln men’s captain James Cawthorn told Television New Zealand’s 1 NEWS. “We played nine games at the nationals. Just a lot more cardio.”

 

 

The 3×3 FISU World University League is the crown jewel of university 3×3 play. But there is another carrot out there: the 3×3 game recently was added to the Olympic sports programme for Tokyo 2020. And it’s on the mind of at least one player here in Xiamen.

 

 

“The Olympics would be any kid’s dream,”  Cawthorn told 1 NEWS. “To get there would be pretty unreal.”

 

 

STATS AND INSIGHTS INTO THE OCEANIA UNIVERSITIES COMPETING IN XIAMEN

 

 

Southern Cross University of Australia in action during a previous edition of the 3×3 FISU World University League finals

 

 

Lincoln University

 

 

Tagline: “New Zealand’s specialist land-based university”

About: For over 139 years, the university has its focus on increasing New Zealand’s land-based knowledge and productivity in areas like agribusiness and food marketing to viticulture and oenology.

Mission: “Feed the world, protect the future, and live well.”

Structure: The third-oldest university in New Zealand and one of eight government universities. Lincoln University had 5,819 students enrolled in 2015.

 

 

Monash University

Tagline: “One of Australia’s leading universities and ranks among the world’s top 100. We help change lives through research and education.”

About: Monash is a global university with a presence on four continents

History: Monash started out as a research-focused with an emphasis on science and technology in 1961 with fewer than 400 students. Since then, Monash has grown into a network of campuses, education centres and partnerships spanning the globe.

3×3 FISU World University League – FInals: Monash placed 3rd in 2015

Size: 60,000 students, and 250,000 alumni from over 170 countries, Monash is now Australia’s largest university 

 

Macquarie University

Tagline: “A place of pioneering minds, breaking free of conventions”

About: Macquarie is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park.

History: The University was founded in 1964 to be a radical and unconventional addition to the New South Wales tertiary education market.

Size: 40,000 students and 2,000 staff