Launceston's lack of indoor courts has reached breaking point, with children possibly being left out from playing basketball if a solution isn't found soon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This is according to Launceston Basketball Association president Craig Gibson, who said continued growth in junior basketball has led to late games and fabricated bye weeks to deal with the surge.
"On Monday nights, we've got 14 year olds starting games at 9.30 at night," he said.
"At best, it's a 10.30 finish and they go to school the next day.
"Some of the better ones go and do their state development program on Tuesday morning; they're up at 5.30am."
FOOTBALL:
Gibson said the LBA junior competition experienced a 12 per cent growth in both 2020 and 2021; the equivalent to 33 teams per year.
"As an organisation we're looking to move our entire division one program in juniors from winter to summer so we can make space and allow everyone to play," Gibson said.
"We're seven days a week now, but we'll be 365 days a year pretty much bar school holidays.
"That's the only way we can make room, otherwise we need to start turning kids away, how do you get started [in basketball] if you can't start?
"We play basketball here [Elphin], but we also compete with badminton, futsal, table tennis and other sports ... there is not basketball hub - we share."
Both the LBA, and the Launceston Tornadoes, found their court woes further exasperated with the Silverdome being unavailable due to the New Zealand Breakers and other events using the facility on short notice.
Tornadoes chairperson Neil Grose said while the Breakers' presence was great and getting more kids into basketball, the lack of court access leaves those kids with nowhere to play.
"I don't want to take away from the Breakers, I was up there on Friday night, there were 1400 people there and it was great," he said.
"It's getting families involved in watching basketball and kids coming through, but we need to back that up at the other end."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT:
Grose added the Tornadoes have been required to train 54km away at Deloraine because of the lack of court availability in Launceston.
"The state government invests a lot of money into grassroots basketball, through the Tornadoes and the Thunder," Grose said.
"And it works - kids get interested in basketball to the point where we don't have enough courts - but that support's not flowing through.
"We've got them interested, we've got them in a club ... and all of a sudden they can't play because there's not enough courts because they're displaced by the Breakers.
"It sort of sticks in the craw of a lot of people when there's $750,000 that just comes out of nowhere for the Breakers, but local grassroots basketball can't even find enough spaces to play on."
With the Torns proving to be an accelerator for local talent including Aishah Anis and Lauren Wise, Grose said a lack of infrastructure shouldn't get in the way of would-be Torns' aspirations.
"The Tornadoes - Northern Tasmania's only semi-professional sporting team who are third on the ladder and having a great season - the team's training in Deloraine because they can't get on the court," he said.
"We're the only team in the NBL1 South side of a 20-odd team competition who can't train regularly on our own court.
"We need to see kids progress through so they become Tornadoes, it's frustrating from a women's basketball point of view that a lot of resources are put into men's elite [basketball]."
Both Grose and Gibson agreed the recently planned UTAS Stadium development, which included an indoor facility that allowed for three courts, would be an ideal long-term solution.
"From a Tornadoes point of view, that is precisely the right strategy: a centre of excellence based around a number of sports," Grose said.
READ MORE
But with 200 teams, 1900 players and at least nine courts short as it stands, Gibson said an immediate solution was needed.
"We need courts, and we need them in the next 18 months," he said.
"We make this change [summer expansion] to our competition, that'll free up some courts for next year, but in two years we'll be in the same space we are now.
"How do we deal with it? Do we tell kids they can't play? Or do we have what we have now where we fabricate byes just so everyone can play.
"It's not ideal and it's not the full service we want to give to those who want to play basketball - it needs to be looked at, and looked at quickly."