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For 15 years, the Summer Slam basketball tournament has attracted some of Australia's most talented young athletes.
As a junior, Thon Maker, a South Australian Australian NBA player, came from Perth to play. Just like the current NBL players, Deng Deng and Majok Majok.
But on Tuesday, organizers said they were forced to cancel the contest. In a statement, they said that continued media coverage about "African gangs" had made searching for a place in Melbourne too difficult.
"We never really had a problem in Melbourne for kids to do certain things," said Emmanuel Acouth, co-founder of the participating club, Savannah Pride, at Guardian Australia. "Unfortunately, we pay the consequences of their actions … They are only a minority in our group. They do not represent us. "
After more than a year of debates on what the federal government ministers have called the "African gang crisis" in Melbourne, the cancellation of the Summer Slam tournament is the latest blow to South Sudanese in Australia, according to the leaders of the community.
"People talk all the time about integration, but when a tournament of this magnitude has such sentimental value to the community, it's canceled and amazing," said Maker Mayek, a South-Australian-Australian lawyer. "It brings together the South Sudanese. There is no event as important as that. "
In recent years, the tournament has faced a negative publicity. Last December, an Airbnb property was destroyed in the western suburbs of Melbourne at a party hosted by people attending this year's summer parade. This prompted the local mayor to say that the event would not take place at the same Werribee stadium due to resident complaints. The 2015 event was marked by a fight in the parking lot of Frankston's basketball stadium, which left a wounded man stabbed.
In July, when former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had raised concern about the "Sudanese gangs" in Melbourne, another basketball tournament, the National Classic, had not taken place.
The organizers were reluctant to criticize the venue but finally spoke on Tuesday.
"The stadium managers are afraid to organize our event because of the stories of African gangs they see in the news," said the South Sudanese Association of Australian National Basketball in a statement. "Some of our partner organizations have also expressed concerns about our event because of the fear created.
"The actions of a few teenagers in the community are unfairly used to stereotype the vast majority who do what is right."
Andrew Gaze, Australian basketball legend and current Sydney Kings coach, said the stadium's stance seemed "extremely damaging".
He hoped that "common sense would prevail" and that the tournament would unfold.
"According to what we've said, the problem they face is access to a room due to stereotypes or prejudices about what could happen and what is wrong. the dangers of organizing a tournament, "said Gaze, who trains two Australians from South Sudan, Deng Deng and Deng Acouth, told Guardian Australia. "[That] It seems extraordinary and almost hard to believe. "
On Wednesday, the Bendigo stadium offered to host the event. The general manager of sport, Ben Harvey, told the announcer Bendigo that he would be open to discussions about organizing tournaments on the site.
For the players, the cancellation was devastating, said Acouth, who trains players aged 12 to 20 in Blacktown, Sydney. "When they heard the news, they could not understand how someone else's actions could ruin something." [when they had] Nothing to do with [it].
"They [the stadiums] do an injustice to our sporting country. These kids are the future of Australian basketball. "
In a statement, Basketball Victoria said the venues had imposed restrictions on the event that were "little in demand for other Victorian basketball tournaments and rarely needed throughout the sporting community" .
This included informing residents of the area surrounding the event, paying for round-trip transportation for all participants and only playing matches during the day, with a grand final of half a year. -day.
Karen Pearce, a Victoria Basketball manager, said that one site had been secured but that the association had chosen to cancel the event.
"I think the local councils have put in place some provisions – that we needed to do and that we could have done," but I think that in the end, it was going to be a little too difficult, "Pearce said. Melbourne 3AW radio station.
Jenny McMahon, acting executive director of the Wyndham Council, who hosted the Summer Slam in 2017, said that he had not been formally contacted to organize the contest. McMahon said the organizers, the council and the venue had "determined" that the event had passed the Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
John Kuot, a former Summer Slam player on the African police force's Victoria Police Task Force, said that most of the problems occurred after the end of the tournament.
"As a community, we have an obligation to ensure that every person has the opportunity to realize their potential."
The Australian National South Sudanese Basketball Association has been contacted for comment.
Acouth said that while many young South Sudanese players were hoping to travel abroad, including his own nephew, who was currently playing in American college basketball, the tournament was "more than just sports".
"I can speak for myself. I have been involved since my youngest age and this has shown me the way forward. I did not have time to do all sorts of antisocial things because I was involved in basketball. "
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