WANGARATTA Basketball Inc president Adam Maher is frustrated. The association will host their third annual under 12 and under 14 junior basketball tournament this weekend, 8-9 March, with juniors from across the region and further afield set to come together for some exhilarating basketball. The only problem is the tournament won’t be in Wangaratta, but in Wodonga. Even with the $12.4m upgrades to the Wangaratta Sport and Aquatics Centre (WSAC), including two new multisport courts and an improved show court, the WBI is unable to host their tournament due to a lack of courts in town. Maher said the lack of courts was having an impact on basketball and indoor sport in town. “We had three courts, two undersize and one semi-full-size court, and we’ve now got four full-size courts, so from a participation space point of view, we’ve got one more court,” he said. “In Wangaratta, if we go back a few years, we used to have three courts at the WSAC, one court at Galen, one court at the [Wangaratta] high school, one court at Cathedral, and we used to have Ryan Avenue, so we used to have seven courts in Wangaratta. “Ryan Avenue no longer has a basketball court, and unfortunately the courts at the other locations like the schools are no longer suitable for playing representative basketball or we can’t get on there. “So all of a sudden we’ve got four courts in Wangaratta, so realistically what we have to do is go down to Benalla and across to Myrtleford, or go to Wodonga. “With the rise of other user groups and sports and how they’re developing, we’ve unfortunately gone backwards in our court availability in general. “It’s no one to blame, in this situation the council have delivered, but it gets back to the fact that unfortunately we don’t have enough courts.” With some 70 teams entered into the weekend tournament, but with it not being in town, local businesses will unfortunately miss out on a lot of potential revenue. “Local businesses will feel the absence of thousands of visitors who would normally stay, eat, and shop in Wangaratta during the tournament weekend,” Maher said. “Events like ours are not just sporting fixtures, they’re community and economic drivers. “When we had 130-odd teams, we did an economic impact study and it was about $2.4m, so it’s anywhere from $1.1m-$1.5m missing this weekend.” While he said the WBI were grateful for the new facility at WSAC, which has been receiving rave reviews from user groups and guests, Maher said all users had to come together to find out how to take the next step. “We’re in a bit of a predicament at the moment, but what that should show Wangaratta is that sporting communities and facilities are a major priority to try and keep developing,” he said. “We need to keep working with the council, show them what we’re missing out on because we don’t have enough courts. “While we understand the challenges faced by the Rural City of Wangaratta, it is clear investment in indoor sports facilities should be a priority. “Wangaratta Basketball will continue to work with the rural city and other core providers to help with the planning of more indoor facilities to benefit all Wangaratta sporting groups. “This is not just about basketball, it's about supporting the health, wellbeing, and economic vitality of our community.”
