Thousands expected for junior basketball tournament

It’s one of the biggest weekends on the Wangaratta Basketball Inc calendar, with the junior tournament set to turn Wangaratta into a bustling exhibition of up-and-coming basketball talent. After being run in Wodonga over the last few years, the WBI Junior Basketball Tournament is back home in Wangaratta. Across Saturday and Sunday, representative teams from across the North East and border will descend on the various basketball courts across Wangaratta and beyond. There will be 19 different divisions of competition across girls and boys basketball, from under 10s all the way up to under 18s, with more than 120 registered teams. Between players, support staff, and family, around 2500-3000 people are expected to come through. Wangaratta Sports and Aquatic Centre (four courts) and Galen Catholic College (two) will be hubs of activity across the weekend, but such is the popularity of the tournament, more courts were needed to accommodate the crowds. Matches will also be held at Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre (two courts), Benalla P-12 College (two) and Myrtleford Indoor Sports Stadium (two courts). WBI president Adam Maher said it was great to have the junior tournament largely back in town. “We’re excited that it is back here, but it hasn’t come without lots of challenges,” he said. “It’s the first tournament we’ve run back here without being split, and unfortunately it’s a geographical nightmare. “To try and be fair to everyone so they don’t drive from Myrtleford to Benalla which is a fair hike, to give everyone two games’ break, it’s very difficult. “It’s going to be a great tournament, there’s going to be 2500-3000 people wandering around Wangaratta and surroundings over the two days. “It’s a fantastic economic impact not only for the basketball, but we’re hoping Wangaratta as a whole and a region is really going to benefit out of this coming back. “We’ve given it to Wodonga for the last x amount of years, but hopefully it’ll benefit local businesses and Wangaratta as a whole.” Tournaments like this one are only powered by volunteer labour, whether it’s refereeing or scoring games, managing teams, or even catering at barbecues at the venues. Maher said while it was a lot of work, hosting a tournament was well worth it. “It’s going to be a big weekend, and it’s going to be lots of work for Wangaratta basketball volunteers and others helping out, but the rewards are normally pretty good,” he said. “I think the rewards for Wangaratta are hopefully going to come to fruition and show everyone what we’ve been missing out on for the last few years.”

Thousands expected for junior basketball tournament

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