The Karuah Kinnections men's basketball team have two games under their belt in Newcastle's Thursday night winter competition - a first round loss to Nightmare 51-33 and second round win against Electric Eliminators 39-37 - showing it has the makings of being a force in their division.

"There's plenty of talent in the team," Karuah Kinnections co-captain Cain Waterman said. "There's lots of potential here."

Karuah Kinnections features 10 young men aged 12 to 35 who live at or have ties to the Karuah Aboriginal community.

It was Worimi elder and Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council acting chairwoman Michelle Perry who began the push for a basketball team more than a year ago. Albeit, unknowingly.

Concerned with the number of young men in the community struggling with their mental health, Perry reached out to a number of services which could help.

"It was the first time we've ever experienced a crisis like this," Perry said. "We had to do something.

"Working with a number of mental health services, we all wanted to find something that the young men in the community could do or be part of. That turned out to be basketball."

Helen Marquez, who worked in the mental health services field, was able to assist in the formation of the team, even netting it a coach - Butch Hays.

The former American-Australian professional basketball player, who was drafted to the Chicago Bulls (NBA) the same year as Michael Jordan, now lives in Lake Macquarie and runs SNAP Programs.

SNAP, which is Hays' own not-for-profit organisation, sponsors the team. It provided the players with a uniform and covered entry fees into the competition.

"The team is really positive for the boys. A few have been going through a tough time, so something like this really helps," Hays said.

"More than that, for the boys that go to school, we encourage attendance to school so they can continue playing."

The team was set to begin playing earlier this year, before COVID-19 hit. They had to then wait for the winter competition to pick up. The competition runs for 12 weeks.

Karuah Kinnections trains on the courts within the Aboriginal community, off Mustons Road, on a Wednesday evening.

Sponsorship from Bunnings will allow the team to paint markings on the court, which currently have none.

The land council sponsor the team in the form of transporting them to and from games in Broadmeadow on a Thursday evening.

To sponsor the team phone Vasquez on 0402 633 552.