PEOPLE talk about dynasties and tout a return to when the Miners absolutely ruled the floor.
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They talk about the legends forever etched into Basketball Ballarat history.
But this is different.
It has been 16 years since the Miners reached a South East Australian Basketball League conference final.
This is a new team, a new era with new players trying to create their own history.
In a sold out Minerdome on Saturday night, there will be plenty of fans who remember past glory days and past heroes – one, in Eric Hayes, who will this time lead the Miners as coach rather than star player. There will be a nostalgic element.
For long-time fans, this will be a special moment to see the Miners back in finals action, only this time as a new-generation outfit contesting a title in their own right.
This time there is also a whole new legion of young fans whose support the Miners have earned with their thrilling play and selfless team cohesion this season.
We know these Miners have talent. A key indicator is in three signings to National Basketball League club Melbourne United – Sam Short, Peter Hooley and Craig Moller, the latter who will miss this week while suiting up for the Emerging Boomers in the World University Games.
But it takes a strong, versatile and seemingly unflappable team to get this far in the SEABL with interruptions of players on higher duties.
A Minderdome sell-out reinforces just how important this team is, not just to the city’s basketball ranks, but to the whole community.
It has taken a long time between glory with long periods in which the Miners failed to reach play-offs.
The Miners burst into the post-season in 2014 after an eight-year hiatus and again in 2015. Both matches were lost on the road, interestingly falling short of Dandenong each time in conference semi-finals in the Ranger Zone.
The Miners’ roster has changed so much, even since then, that unfinished business is no longer a factor.
Their journey this season has captured attention in a city with such a voracious sporting appetite that when there is such a big game in town, everyone wants a ticket. Everyone wants to be part of a chance at creating history.
Ventures into live-streaming Ballarat matches has taken off, and will be in play for the conference final and again next week should the Miners reach the all-SEABL championship match.
Funding has been secured for a modern indoor Miners’ home, complete with a 3000-seat stadium and dedicated team training base.
These initiatives will help grow and develop the game in Ballarat and across western Victoria.
But for a marquee team to play a conference final at home will take basketball in Ballarat to a whole new level not seen before.
The Miners are a club with a decorated, proud history. A history filled with dynasties and legends.
Only this home conference final reinforces a new era, filled with new potential.
Whether the Miners progress or not, they set a benchmark in Ballarat sport for others.