Big hustle gets City another national championship

The City of Stirling will play host to yet another national championship in 2024, with the National Basketball League (NBL) announcing this week the City will be the Presenting Partner for the NBL 3x3 Big Hustle National Championships & Scarborough Slam.

Held across five days between 28 March – 1 April 2024, the NBL-owned 3x3 Big Hustle Nationals will see teams from across Australia with the best emerging basketballers converge on both Scarborough and Mirrabooka to battle it out in a series of heats, semis and finals. In 3x3 basketball, Big Hustle is the start of the Elite Pathway, with state and national championships leading to the Pro Hustle.

The Scarborough Beach Slam will be a three-day basketball festival held alongside the Big Hustle focused on enhancing the profile and growing participation in 3x3 basketball. The slam will be made up of men’s and women’s pro 3x3 competitions, junior 3x3 tournaments, NBL player appearances, multicultural programs and community clinics and activations.

Mayor Mark Irwin said the City was happy to provide $90,000 in sponsorship funding and support for a series of events expected to deliver a return of more than $1 million for the local economy.

“The City is proud to play host to yet another national championship event, which showcases the investments we have made in top-level facilities and our iconic Scarborough Beach event and tourism precinct,” he said.

“The 3x3 events will transform the Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre and precinct into a vibrant and exciting outdoor basketball festival, with a mix of professional competition and community participation activation over five days for over 700 participants and 9,000 spectators.

“We are especially pleased that some of the heats will be held at Stirling Leisure – Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka. The Big Hustle national finals competition will be held in Scarborough, which we want to establish as the natural choice and home of major sporting festivals.

“This national championship will represent the tail end of a mammoth summer series of events sponsored by the City, including Groundswell Festival 2023, the Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships 2023 and the upcoming Perth Festival 2024.”

3x3 Hustle is Australia’s only 3x3 basketball competition framework endorsed by Basketball Australia and the International Basketball Federation as the world governing body for basketball and is the official pathway to representing Australia in international events.

In 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Program ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games. The first official 3x3 event was held in 2010 at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, meaning it took just seven years for the game to make it from the streets to the Olympics.