SELKIRK Stadium is seeing some explosive and entertaining elite sport this month as a host venue for the current WNBL festival of basketball.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Olympian Abby Bishop, Southside Flyers\u2019 power forward and centre, is grateful for the chance to be part of the regional showcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to promote women\u2019s sport and bring WNBL to people who don\u2019t get to come along and watch regularly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSelkirk Stadium is really nice, the facilities are amazing, the changerooms are great, and last week we felt welcomed as soon as we got there.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravelling between Melbourne and Ballarat has been simple for us as it\u2019s only an hour down the highway. We\u2019ve really enjoyed playing there and are looking forward to playing on Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basketball Ballarat partnerships manager Melissa Thomas said the organisation is proud to host the sport\u2019s most elite Australian women athletes and provide a stage for them to shine in front of a regional audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the 3000-seater show court, and all games are streamed live on TV on Kayo or ABC, so it\u2019s great recognition for our region and basketball in Ballarat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also great for our local families and kids to come along and watch the highest level of women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeedback 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\u2019s the best for children to see what they can become.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perth Lynx are based in Ballarat throughout the program of games, which are also being held in Dandenong, Parkville, and Traralgon.<\/p>\n