Sport
20 December, 2024
Gary Bird Award 'an honour' for Benbow after fast start to coaching
Horsham's Tarkyn Benbow receives prestigious basketball award.
Horsham's Tarkyn Benbow has rounded out a stellar year in basketball with a Basketball Victoria Country Commission award.
On top of a CBL championship with the Horsham Hornets, Benbow received the Gary Bird Award for outstanding contribution by a male to diversity and inclusion.
"It's very special, considering I haven't even been doing it [coaching] for a full year yet," he said.
"It's pretty overwhelming, just how far we come in such a little bit of time.
"We're only going to get bigger, and I'm only young, so I've got a lot of learning to still do."
The award is named in honour of Bird, the father of Horsham Amateur Basketball Association life member Bec McIntyre.
'It's an honour being getting the Gary Bird Award for everything he did [for basketball and the association]," he said.
Benbow, 18, has worked with McIntyre in a program with the Wimmera Whippets and established the Benbow Basketball Academy with his father, Scott.
"Just seeing the kids growth in under a year... They're getting heaps better, they're growing and their confidence is getting better," he said.
"I'm still learning heaps, and I feel like I'm growing as a coach every single day. It's pretty special."
Benbow hopes to continue growing the academy across the Wimmera in 2025.
They have already conducted clinics in 2024 and hosted 3x3 basketball tournaments in Horsham.
In the meantime, Benbow will assist his father with coaching duties for one of the Horsham Hornets' under-14 boys junior representative teams.
"He's [Scott] a pretty amazing character as everyone knows, so I'm learning from him, and it's pretty cool to do it under him," Benbow said.
"I'm a very lucky boy to have someone like that around me all the time."