But the fact is, basketball is cool. Don’t take my word for it. Have a look at the extensive and expensive basketball section in many sport stores. The juggernaut that is the NBA has a huge take-up in our youth culture in that proud ongoing tradition of American cultural imperialism. Think about the recent press conference with former great Shaquille O’Neal and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for instance. Ask my sons anything about an NBA player, past or present, and they can probably tell you, but — unfortunately — they barely know anyone in our NBL.
The first time I stepped inside the Shepparton stadium with the local basketball season in full swing, it hit me in face. People everywhere! Balls everywhere! I had had no idea such a massive thing was going on while I was ensconced for years in junior soccer over at McEwen Reserve.
At the stadium there was almost nowhere to sit, with parents and siblings crammed along the walls and between courts. And in winter — bearing in mind basketball is played at night — it’s freezing. Put that scene on steroids and you have a Gators home game where spectators are crammed in cheek by jowl and, apparently, recently turned away during the finals due to overcrowding.
The summer basketball season has just tipped off and players as young as under-8 up to adult compete in Greater Shepparton Basketball Association’s spring competition. I counted 25 different competitions (different ages, sexes and grades) that will take place from Monday to Thursday between now and December.
Our community is lucky to have such wonderful soccer facilities, which are not only enjoyed and appreciated by the locals but continue to attract events such as the upcoming Asian Football Confederation’s under-17 Asian Cup qualifiers. If we could attract some world class basketball, there is no doubt it would be well supported. No wonder promises of a bigger, better sports stadium have been made during the current Victorian election campaign.
In deference to the name of this column, I’d better link this back to the radio. Most Fridays it is my absolute pleasure to have a chinwag with young, erudite News reporter Max Stainkamph on the program for our The Week that Was segment, where we talk about some of the week’s news stories. And the past few weeks we haven’t been able to go past the Gators’ exciting rise into the finals. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, they had just bowed out of the final, going down two games to nil — they play up to three finals, rather than one; just another thing I don’t get about basketball. Despite this loss, the Gators enjoyed a stellar season and they ought to be congratulated for being terrific role models for our younger players. The Gators might have lost this season, but basketball is surely the winner. Did I just say that?
