It may have taken longer than expected, but Wangaratta will at last play host to some of the best ballers going around with a special 3x3 basketball event this Saturday. Originally planned for January, the Champions League Basketball 3x3 event was called off due to the bushfires and smoke in the region. CLB will showcase the dynamic fun and explosive entertainment of 3x3 basketball in a fun, festive and family friendly environment at the Wangaratta Sports and Aquatic Centre. An event aimed at all ages and all abilities, the sport of 3x3 basketball is a great way for people from all over the region to get involved and have some fun. Endorsed by FIBA, 3x3 is simple and flexible enough to be played anywhere and by anyone - all you need is a hoop, a half-court and six players. There are categories for juniors from under 11s all the way to under 18s and open age. The event fills the void left after the unfortunate cancellation of WBI’s under 10s/12s/14 junior basketball tournament, which was originally planned for this weekend. “They had an event in January that couldn’t go ahead due to the fires, so I had a chat with them and proposed an alliance where we could include that within our tournament for the older age groups who weren’t playing in the 12s and 14s,” Wangaratta Basketball Inc president Adam Maher said. “When we decided not to go ahead with ours [tournament], we had a chat and thought it was still a good opportunity to have that 3x3 tournament happen on that weekend as well. “Together, we’ve been working hard to get registrations, I think we’re up around the 25-26 team mark, we’ll see if we can get to 30. “We’re excited to see how that looks, we’ve got a few sides who are going to hit the floor with 3x3 – not having the ability to play in the tournament has opened it up to being able to play in the 3x3. “3x3’s a fairly big sport at the moment, it’s an Olympic-recognised sport, it’s quite fast, exciting to watch game, and its getting a little bit of traction around Australia and the world.” Maher said while it was unfortunate their planned junior tournament had to be cancelled, they just couldn’t secure enough players and teams to run it. “It was just due to lack of sides, we had a few sides not register, a few withdraw,” he said. “This year, Wodonga ended up splitting their tournament, they had their 16s and 18s in February and then decided to have their 10s and 12s on the weekend after ours. “It’s pretty hard to get clubs to come back two weekends in a row, I think that had some bearing on it. “I did have some clubs saying they couldn’t get people to come out two weeks in a row, travelling from places. “This year, we just felt the numbers fell below a point where it wasn’t going to make it viable to actually run the event.” The 3x3 basketball even has all the makings of a great day out, with barbecues cooking all day, with egg and bacon rolls in the morning and hamburgers and snags at lunch, with drinks available as well.
