Renewed call for more courts on the Bellarine

THE push for more basketball infrastructure on the Bellarine has been renewed, following the latest statement from the peninsula’s top basketball figure.

Bellarine Peninsula Basketball Association (BPBA) president Gary Thompson has made the callout to his association’s members to keep up advocacy for more infrastructure, while it continues searching for avenues to increase its court capacity and alleviate fixture pressures.

In a letter to members on August 13, Mr Thompson outlined the BPBA’s membership base and its dire need for more courts.

“The Bellarine Peninsula is severely short of suitable basketball court space for our membership, right now every week there are at least 400 children, women and men missing out on the sporting and health opportunities required by this community,” he wrote.

“Available court space is now the major challenge for our association with every available facility on the Bellarine being used for our competitions.

“Put simply, there are not enough basketball courts on the Bellarine Peninsula.”

According to the letter, BPBA provides for more than 3,100 members, 360 domestic teams (for men, women and children), 22 Storm representative teams, and four senior teams (Championship and Youth league).

The BPBA also hosts school holiday camps and Aussie hoops programs week-round, has 80 referees and court supervisors, and runs 7,500 games of basketball per year.

“Because of the shortage of court space the BPBA has had to introduce several difficult measures to accommodate the large numbers of players and teams such as, introducing double byes and the introduction of weekend time slots within playing and training fixtures,” Mr Thompson wrote.

“Furthermore, it impacts on how our competitions run, resulting in sometimes challenging fixture arrangements to ensure we can effectively and safely maximise both the participation and running of all our various levels of competition.

“These pressures create logistical difficulties for all players, parents, families, and staff and most importantly, deny local basketballers the opportunity to play the sport we love where we live.”

Mr Thompson has also urged residents, local basketball lovers, and club members to advocate via the club’s website for updates, contact their local Members of Parliament, and follow the club’s Facebook page “Bellarine’s Home Court Advantage”.