BALLARAT Basketball chief Peter Eddy is determined this city must soon follow a national trend in the game’s increased participation rate – not buck it.
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Basketball was one of the few sports to show continued growth Australia-wide amid new Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing an overall 6 per cent drop in people aged 15 years and older taking on a sport or physical recreation activity in the past two years.
But Ballarat’s basketball numbers have stagnated below the state and national average participation in the game.Eddy said the latest finding highlighted the stark necessity for more indoor court space as pledged in a Labor state election promise last April under the $31.5 million major sports and events precinct for Ballarat.
“We’ve peaked where we can go on the fact that we have no new courts yet and play our latest games with a 10.10pm start time,” Eddy said.
“We’re limited by capacity in a sport that’s continuing to grow ... we want to be part of that and keep growing.”
Eddy said Ballarat basketball and netball bodies were continuously working closely with the state and local governments, both of which he expected were going through the “mechanics” of making election promises work.
Under the precinct promise, $9 million will be allocated to redeveloping the Wendouree Sports & Events Centre with more courts.
The ABS’ Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation report details basketball involvement grew by 51,100 to 406,100.
An independent study by SGL Consulting last year stated Ballarat’s lower-than-average participation rate was due to a lack of suitable court space.
Eddy said juggling matches was a challenge, particularly to retain players and volunteers, and with such late match times.
But he said the ABS report highlighted a much bigger problem.
“Nationally, people aged 15 and over are playing less sport and the trend shouldn’t be going that way,” he said.
“This is an issue about people getting out and getting fit, and how we, as an indoor sports body, can help.
“People playing sport in Ballarat – whether it’s basketball, netball or badminton – rely more on indoor venues than other cities because of our climate.”
Eddy maintained Ballarat was falling behind rival major regional centres Bendigo and Geelong in court capacity and an indoor sports stadium capable of holding a variety of major events.
Ballarat’s senior marquee teams, the Miners and Rush, play on a national stage and are forced to train away from the Minerdome, squeezed out by the demand for court space.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au