Court crisis forces Townsville Basketball to reject hundreds of eager players

Basketball in the regional Queensland city of Townsville has become so popular that local clubs have run out of courts to house training and competitions.

Community sport has endured two years of COVID-19 restrictions and low member numbers, and many clubs modified their competitions just so teams could play.

But that is not the case in Townsville, where the huge influx of eager players has forced clubs to turn hundreds of people away because there are not enough courts to create more teams.

“The estimate the clubs have given us is anywhere between 200 to 500 players that were probably turned away this season,” Townsville Basketball general manager Mark Wrobel said.

“When you’re talking about a membership base of around 2,600 people, that’s a fairly significant amount that we’re not allowing to play a sport.”

Popularity booms with Olympic success

The organisation said the player boom was thanks to bronze medal successes of the Australian Boomers at the Tokyo Olympics and the Opals at the women’s world cup in Sydney.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have some incredible growth over the past three years where we’ve almost doubled our membership base,” Mr Wrobel said.

Without more courts, local clubs have resorted to establishing strict rules on new players and only accepting siblings of current players.

“We put them on waiting lists and try to free up spots for people, but there’s not much else we can do about it without more facilities within our region,” Mr Wrobel said.

More courts needed to future-proof the region

Townsville Basketball said it had lobbied state and federal governments for funding at the last federal election to expand current courts and stadiums.

“We’re working with Basketball Queensland about how we can work with government to try and increase our facility,” Mr Wrobel said.

With preparations for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics underway, players and organisers are hoping funding for new courts will help future-proof the region and increase the potential for hosting Olympic events in the north.

“We could build training bases and start looking at finding different programs where they can talent ID for Olympic sports.

“It would also future-proof us for the next 15 to 20 years so we can not only serve our sports needs, but offer the venue to other sports which continuously ask for access to indoor facilities.”

Member for Mundingburra Les Walker welcomed the move but said Townsville industry bodies would need a more comprehensive expansion plan.

“They would have to know what infrastructure they’re looking at, where that would be placed and what contributions they wish to make in growing these facilities,” he said.

“The city has gone a long way north now so have they got plans to expand their venues that way?

“It would be great to have a conversation about what their vision is.”