The tournament begins today and finishes on Saturday. There are 38 teams from all over the country and some of the 400-odd names on the different team lists have a very familiar feel.
The Hawkes Bay boys team, for example, features Clifton Bush III and a Paora Winitana jun. Their fathers have well-established reputations in the basketball community.
Clifton Bush won the National Basketball League (NBL) scoring title in 2001 and played more than 150 games in the NBL.
Paora Winitana was part of the outstanding Tall Blacks squad that placed fourth at the 2002 Fiba World Championships and is a veteran of the NBL, having played more than 250 games.
If the boys are half as good as their fathers, Hawkes Bay will be a tough opponent.
Unfortunately for Otago, it has been drawn in the same pool as Auckland, North Harbour and Wellington.
Otago's first game is against North Harbour at 1.45pm today.
In the girls competition, Otago has been drawn in pool 3 with Waikato, Canterbury, Hutt Valley and Palmerston North and opens its campaign against Hutt Valley at 1.45pm.
There are 19 teams in each competition. The teams are divided into four pools, with the top two teams from each pool going on to contest the quarterfinals.
