Dion Devow's vision to reinvigorate indigenous basketball in Canberra started with a "silly comment" to his wife about cutting down time at local basketball courts.
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That vision has grown from six teams to 38 as Devow prepares to host the fifth NAIDOC basketball challenge this weekend.
Devow, the 2018 ACT Australian of the year, started the Winnunga Warriors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander club in 2014 to encourage indigenous children to play basketball.
It follows the path set by NBA star Patrick Mills' family, who ran The Shadows basketball team in Canberra.
Devow took inspiration from that and the Warriors are thriving after five years.
"My children were quite involved in basketball and I said to my wife: 'we're always down at the basketball courts, I reckon we'd be here less if we ran a club'," Devow said.
"It was just a silly comment but there were some other Aboriginal kids that were playing basketball and we really liked the atmosphere of connecting with other families and friends.
"There used to be an Aboriginal basketball club here in Canberra years ago, so I thought why don't we reinvigorate another one?
"It's kind of grown from there from a couple of teams to ten teams and ranging from juniors to under 19s.
"There's a real key message around promoting and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture but also celebrating and using it as a vehicle to promote reconciliation."
The NAIDOC challenge will be played at the Belconnen Basketball Stadium this weekend. It provides opportunities for teams ranging from under 12s to under 19s in both boys and girls divisions.
"It's important for non-indigenous people to be able to participate in NAIDOC week because a lot of them don't know how to do that or don't have a connection to an Aboriginal organisation or club where they are able to participate," Devow said.
"Basketball is a vehicle to do that [bring communities together]."
Basketball ACT chief executive Matt Dunstan believes the competition is growing because of the wider basketball community.
"I think the popularity of the sport [is why it's growing], but I also think that the basketball community in Canberra are very committed to reconciliation and they can see the wider outcomes of supporting the event," Dunstan said.
"For us it's a whole organisation buying into the messages of the Warriors and all of us trying together to make an impact for the next generation of Indigenous kids."
