South East Australian Basketball League has taken the edge off one of its biggest rivalries for this year.
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Ballarat and Bendigo will meet just once in a modified competition.
Their only encounter – a men’s and women’s doubleheader – will be at Bendigo in round 14, denying Ballarat one of its major home court drawcards of the SEABL season.
However, Basketball Ballarat is not concerned by the dramatic fixture change, with chief executive officer Peter Eddy playing it down.
“With the need to play a slightly shorter season to balance the NBL season, some changes were always going to impact us.
“While Bendigo is now an every second year event at home, we will need to build our other rivalries to maintain momentum,” he said.
“The emergence of a strong Hobart franchise, our game against the Geelong Supercats and interest in the new club from Diamond Valley will continue to build strong crowds that have grown year-on-year against all teams for the past three seasons.”
The SEABL has dropped the two-conference system for men and women, putting all teams together for a 15-week, 20-game season.
Diamond Valley has joined as the 18th club in the men’s and women’s competitions.
