WNBL festival in full flight

SELKIRK Stadium is seeing some explosive and entertaining elite sport this month as a host venue for the current WNBL festival of basketball.

So far, the Perth Lynx, Melbourne Boomers, UC Capitals, and Southside Flyers have all played in Ballarat, with a final game between the Capitals and Flyers coming up this Friday, 21 January at 7.30pm.

Olympian Abby Bishop, Southside Flyers’ power forward and centre, is grateful for the chance to be part of the regional showcase.

“It’s a great opportunity to promote women’s sport and bring WNBL to people who don’t get to come along and watch regularly,” she said.

“Selkirk Stadium is really nice, the facilities are amazing, the changerooms are great, and last week we felt welcomed as soon as we got there.

“Travelling between Melbourne and Ballarat has been simple for us as it’s only an hour down the highway. We’ve really enjoyed playing there and are looking forward to playing on Friday night.”

Basketball Ballarat partnerships manager Melissa Thomas said the organisation is proud to host the sport’s most elite Australian women athletes and provide a stage for them to shine in front of a regional audience.

“We have the 3000-seater show court, and all games are streamed live on TV on Kayo or ABC, so it’s great recognition for our region and basketball in Ballarat,” she said.

“It’s also great for our local families and kids to come along and watch the highest level of women’s basketball.

“Feedback from the first game last week (Perth Lynx versus Southside Flyers) was that it was even better than people expected. We have a lot of our elite players through youth league and senior women saying it’s the best for children to see what they can become.”

Perth Lynx are based in Ballarat throughout the program of games, which are also being held in Dandenong, Parkville, and Traralgon.

Visit bit.ly/3rmphqV to purchase general admission tickets for tomorrow night’s UC Capitals and Southside Flyers game, 7.30pm at Selkirk Stadium.