The ACT basketball community congratulates the Canberra Gunners, Zara Russell, and Cal Bruton on being named among Finalists for the 2025 CBR Sport Awards

After another strong year of growth in the game at all levels, it is fitting that basketball features heavily among Finalists announced for the CBR Sport Awards earlier this month.

NBL1 East and National Champions, the Canberra Gunners, have been named as one of three Finalists in the Team of the Year category.

Basketball ACT Pathways product, Under-19s World Championships silver medallist, and newly contracted UC Capital, Zara Russell, was shortlisted in the Rising Star category.

And Canberra and Australian basketball legend, Cal Bruton, has been recognised with the Bruton Basketball Foundation announced as a finalist in the Minister for Sport and Recreation Award for Inclusion category.

BACT congratulates all three Finalists on behalf of the entire basketball community in the ACT and looks forward to seeing the winners announced at the CBR Sport Awards Presentation on November 20.

Canberra Gunners (Team of the Year)

After taking out their second NBL1 East title and appearing in their third Grand Final in four seasons, the very much home-grown Canberra Gunners became the first team to win multiple NBL1 East Championships (2022 and 2025), qualifying them for the NBL1 National Finals.

In the National Finals played in Canberra in late August, the Gunners beat highly fancied opposition teams from Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia to become the first team from NBL1 East and the first team ever to win an NBL1 National Championship at home.

Their success led to a suite of NBL1 East gongs, including Grand Final MVP, Coach of the Year, and two players named in the All Star Five, recognition continuing into the National Finals, with the National Final MVP and two players named in the NBL1 National Finals All Star Five.

Zara Russell (Rising Star)

During 2025 Zara Russell again excelled on basketball courts in Australia and overseas.

She represented Australia at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup, helping the Australian Gems secure a silver medal with standout performances against the world’s top teams.

Domestically, the Weston Creek Woden Dodgers junior again represented the ACT in the Australian Under 20 Championships while continuing her development with the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in NBL1 East, delivering clutch performances in key games to help the team secure a conference silver medal.

In a major milestone, Russell signed with the UC Capitals for the 2025-26 WNBL season before she takes up a scholarship with the University of California Berkeley Golden Bears (‘Cal’) later in 2026.

Bruton Basketball Foundation (Minister’s Award for Inclusion)

Basketball ACT is also pleased to acknowledge Bruton Basketball Foundation’s commitment is breaking barriers in sport and creating genuine pathways of inclusion for all communities.

BBF has ensured that basketball is not just a game, but a platform where disadvantaged, displaced, and diverse groups feel seen, supported, and empowered. The vision is simple yet powerful: basketball must be accessible to everyone, no matter their background, challenges, or abilities.

In 2024–25, BBF expanded its Lessons 4Life program and is in schools all over the ACT, including work with students who are vision impaired. Weekly programs with the South Sudanese community and sponsorship of the South Sudanese Tournament in Canberra showcased cultural pride and community connection.

Partnering with Basketball ACT, BBF has run the Futures Program, which develops the basketball skills within our upcoming stars to help make the jump into Basketball ACT’s Rep programs, while fostering the love of the sport within our young players.

It’s a double celebration in fact, with the great Cal Bruton also recently named one of four ACT Finalists for 2026 Senior Australian of the Year.