With the SEABL no more, Launceston Tornadoes, North-West Thunder and Hobart Chargers received a letter of invitation on Thursday night for them to take part in a Basketball Victoria-run competition.

Clubs have until Sunday, October 28 to apply with successful applicants to be unveiled two days later.

Launceston general manager Corey Ackerly said he has been in discussions with both Basketball Victoria and Basketball Australia for several weeks.

“We have begun working on our application and we are fairly confident that all Tassie clubs will be accepted into the revamped league,” Ackerly said.

“And we will be working with Basketball Victoria around the details of the league once we we know that we have been accepted.”

Ackerly confirmed Victorian clubs are requesting that their Tasmanian counterparts subsidise their interstate travel, but said the Torns would have to review the implications of all licence requirements.

“We are genuinely excited to part of this new league and think there will primarily be the same clubs involved that we played against in the SEABL. There maybe a couple of new clubs to come into replace possible Sydney or Canberra,” he said

“They will be strong basketball clubs from Victoria so the competition it will be a big challenge for us.

“We expect the league to be the equivalent of or even better than what the SEABL has been in the past, which is good news for our players and our fans.”

Basketball Tasmania chief executive Chris McCoy said it was positive that the Tasmanian clubs now had a potential future. “There are still some issues and some negotiation to go through and that will play out over the next couple of weeks. But it’s good that we have got to this stage,” he said.

Launceston finished women’s runner-up last SEABL season and Hobart won the men’s title before Basketball Australia decided withdraw its support in August.

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