Dribble Podcast: Basketball desperately needs more courts to allow thousands of kids to play the sport

Leading basketball administrators have warned the sport will lose thousands of players if the crisis surrounding a lack of indoor courts is not urgently addressed. Basketball WA chief executive Nathan Cave said the dire shortage of indoor court availability for basketball throughout WA has fallen significantly behind Victoria and Queensland in recent years. And Mr Cave said with the sport now only 2 per cent behind Australian football for junior participation throughout the State, basketball needs about 30 courts to be built in the metropolitan area — and another 50 to be built regionally — to allow children to play. Thousands of children are stuck on waiting lists to play basketball because there aren’t enough courts to schedule games and many of those are choosing to play other sports. “Nothing is going to solve it unless we get more basketball courts,” Mr Cave told The West Australian’s The Dribble Podcast. The Perth Basketball Association has been identified as the sport’s number one priority as it desperately fights for a facility. They have proposed a 12-court centre for Kensington and received a $2 million commitment from the State Government to investigate options for an indoor sporting venue after submitting an e-petition with 10,529 signatures in August. The lack of a large facility to call home means the Perth Basketball Association currently needs 35 venues per week to allow for games to be played throughout the region. “We don’t have a court spare. We don’t have a team spot spare in our domestic competition and that won’t change any time soon,” chief executive Ryan Lenegan said. “It is putting a significant strain and exertion on us as an association. There would be a degree of risk that if we do not find that home in the next five years, the Perth Basketball Association — which in 2024 is celebrating its 60th year of existence — may fall off the radar in terms of what they do as a service for the community. “The WA State Government has the opportunity to solve a generational issue. We are a club that has not had a home for 60 years. “In the next couple of years, our Government has the opportunity to change that, and not only will that have an immediate benefit, that’s going to hold another 60 years of memories of hopefully the next Bryce Cotton or the next Anneli Maley coming out of the Perth Redbacks because of that investment.” Basketball’s boom is also being seen at higher levels. Perth Lynx will play the first of three matches at HBF Stadium on Monday as they look to expand to a bigger venue after traditionally playing home games at the Bendat Basketball Centre. The NBL1 West Grand Final was moved from the Bendat Basketball Centre last season to RAC Arena and will return there in 2025 after an Australian record 6460 fans flocked to the venue. Perth Wildcats also want a new High Performance Centre because they often lose access to the Bendat Basketball Centre when courts are needed for junior matches. Mr Cave said it was important to look long term and understand basketball will continue to grow. He said Victoria’s experience had shown that finding sites that are big enough to build large venues will save money over time. “We do know that courts are a significant investment,” he said. “Looking at the State Basketball Centre in Victoria, that was a 16-20 court facility and if that was to be built today that is probably a $200m facility,” he said. “We’ve been working with Government. Government know the need, they know the want. We are excited to know we are heading in an election period and we are very hopeful and optimistic we will get some good news.” Parents have also felt the strain of the lack of courts. Ashlee Young’s 12-year-old son Ethan plays the game and attended the Perth Wildcats school holiday clinic during the week. She said kids needed as many chances to play basketball as possible. “Basketball is definitely his favourite sport,” she said. “Our local town actually keeps their courts locked. So we only have a ring at the local skate park. “It’s just a small area but no fences or anything. It’s quite hard to play down there and the rest of the time the courts are locked unless there’s an actual season happening with training. “That makes it really difficult to get out there and play. It’s frustrating. We feel . . . the courts should be available for the kids to use.” Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie was living in the US before moving to WA and said there were more courts available overseas. But he said it had been clear to him that the well-run junior competitions throughout Australia had contributed to the sport’s boom. He said the challenge now is to put the sport on a path where the facilities can keep up with the demand. “In my time here, as I’ve got to know the associations and the different categories of basketball, there certainly seems to be a lack of courts compared to the participation rates,” he said. “For the sport, I think that is something across the country. It reflects what great shape the sport is and the popularity of it. You always need facilities to be able to cater to those people. “But I know it is tough to get everyone involved playing at that level who wants to participate.”