The Illawarra Hawks have become the first NBL team in history to established a not-for-profit foundation to support numerous Community Engagement and Sporting programs.

Established in conjunction with the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF), the Illawarra Hawks Foundation provides an avenue for individuals and businesses to support their initiatives in the Illawarra region.

Whilst the primary function of the club is basketball, the organisation prides itself on its community engagement initiatives with a mission to ‘enrich the lives of our community’.

Through the establishment of the Illawarra Hawks Foundation, the club is looking to ensure sustainable success both on and off the court for many years to come and give back to the community which has been vital to the survival of the Club.

Illawarra Hawks General Manager, Mat Campbell said: “We strive to ensure that we are continually giving back to the community, as the only Foundation club remaining to have participated in every NBL season, we would not have survived without their support.

“As the only full-time professional sporting team based in the Illawarra, we feel we have a duty to the community to assist where we can when times are tough.”

Today’s announcement comes off the back of a number of initiatives the Hawks have led in the NBL this season, including:

• The fundraising initiative for Illawarra and Southern NSW Farmers at their pre-season game against Sydney Kings where $5 from every ticket sold was donated to Buy a Bale
• Acknowledging the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the armistice that marked the end of World War I on Remembrance Day
• Establishing an Indigenous Game in Round 9 against traditional rivals, the Sydney Kings, in recognition and celebration of Indigenous culture
• Expanding the Illawarra Hawks and NBL footprint to Canberra; the first time NBL has been played in the Nation’s Capital for 10 years
• Cross Tasman Cultural Heritage Game with NZ Breakers celebrating both Australian Indigenous and NZ Maori Cultures

Owner of the Illawarra Hawks, Simon Stratford said: “The Illawarra community is very important to the Hawks and the establishment of the Illawarra Hawks Foundation will allow the club to take our Community Engagements Programs to the next level.”

This marks many exciting changes for the club for the 2019/20 season with the upcoming announcement of a new Head coach and a very exciting roster including Boomers Todd Blanchfield, Tim Coenraad Emmett Naar and Daniel Grida and local product Angus Glover all signed for NBL 20.