FORMER Bendigo Spirit import Joy Burke will play under her Taiwanese name Hsi-le Bao for her South East Australian Basketball League team Ballarat Rush this year to meet new league regulations.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
SEABL has a new by-law for Asian-born athletes to be classified as unrestricted.
Basketball Ballarat senior elite teams administrator Melissa Thomas said being born in Taiwan and having played with the Chinese Taipei national team, Burkes was required to complete visa applications using her Taiwanese passport.
She said the application was approved on the condition she used the single identity of Hsi-le Bao.
“While on all formal documentation, including score sheets and working documents, she will be referred to as Hsi-le Bao, she will continue to respond to Joy Burke.”
Burke played one season for the Spirit in 2015-16.
Originally published in The Courier
