Basketball’s best heading to town

THE best basketballers from across Australia will be heading to Ballarat next week to play in the under twenty and Ivor Burge national championships.

The two competitions will be on at Selkirk Stadium from Tuesday 30 January to Sunday 4 February.

The under 20s will see the best players in this age group take to the court and the Ivor Burge National Championship will involve players of all ages with an intellectual disability.

Basketball Ballarat CEO Neville Ivey said it is great for local players to see such a high level of competition in Ballarat.

“Basketball is experiencing tremendous growth and there are over 700 teams now playing in our summer season,” he said.

“The ability for our local players, whatever age, to come and look for the talent coming through the stadium… it’s very much along the lines of if you see it, you can be it.”

Local hopefuls will include Jemma Amoore, Milly Sharp, Riley Dunn and Ned Renfree playing in the under 20 competition, with Bailey Bailey Ohlsen playing in the Ivor Burge championship.

The benefits of the competition are set to extend beyond the basketball community, bringing people from around the country to town.

“When we think about the number of teams that will be coming, it’s estimated over the period that there’s something like 8000 bed nights,” he said.

“In the accommodation sector it’s a tremendous injection and everyone’s got to eat and drink so it’s also the hospitality sector.”