Point Lonsdale ballers seek court upgrade

A LOCAL basketball club is seeking the community’s support to upgrade its court facilities and create a “home” for the sport in Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff.

Established in 2022, the Point Lonsdale Basketball club has grown from a single team with 10 participants to more than 20 teams with more than 150 members in less than three years.

Restricted by a lack of training facilities within the borough, the club largely trains on an outdoor asphalt court at Point Lonsdale Primary School.

Its “abrasive” surface, however, has proved to be a safety concern for the children, some as young as eight-years-old, who train on it.

Club president Benjamin Van Doren said the facilities available to the club meant measures had to be taken during training to prevent players bumping into each other and falling over.

Earlier this year, the club launched a fundraiser to raise the funds needed to resurface the courts, with the aim of creating a safer and more appropriate training ground for its growing membership.

“We’re trying to get the courts coated, basically, with a better product that the kids can actually train a bit harder on and not slip over and not hurt themselves as much,” Mr Van Doren said.

“[The courts are] okay for school use, but the basketball club just needs…somewhere that we can train, and we can have social days [and] that we can have three-on-three competitions or anything like that.”

The fundraiser has since raised just over $9,000, giving the club the co-contribution amount it needs to apply for a grant to assist it to deliver the much-needed upgrades.

But the club is still hoping to raise an additional $20,000 to allow it to add four new adjustable basketball rings, purchase some new equipment such as basketballs, and to update the backboards at their home court.

“Under 10s train on a lower ring, which they currently can’t do because [the courts have] fixed rings,” Mr Van Doren said.

“We want to get a couple of either adjustable, or some lower, rings for the kids to actually be able to practice properly.”

The children are also now playing with their own basketballs.

“We’ve got about five basketballs that the club owners. They’re pretty cheap balls and they’re starting to pop and then we’re replacing them out of our own pocket.”

Mr Van Doren said the need for appropriate basketball facilities and equipment was only continuing to grow across Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale, and any help from the local community to achieve this, is greatly appreciated.

“There’s more and more families coming into The Point and it’s exploding. Every season we see a rise,” he said.

“We play in a social league, and we believe that the kids should be supported in the best way they can, which means them being excited to play basketball.

“We just want to see our kids grow and see the sport expand and give every opportunity we can.

“That’s basically my mission really, just to make sure everyone is included [and] everyone has the ability to grow.”

To contribute to the fundraiser, head to asf.org.au/projects/point-lonsdale-basketball/facilities-project