THE Mount Gambier Pioneers Basketball Club will make a final shot in its bid for survival by seeking to play in a semi-professional league in Victoria.
With the club under pressure to find a new league, the Pioneers board will apply for Basketball Victoria’s “Big V” State Championship League for the 2019 season.
It is hoped this will give the iconic Mount Gambier sporting team time to establish a competitive women’s team with a view to leapfrog into Victoria’s elite competition the following year.
This follows the Pioneers – considered a powerhouse men’s team – spectacularly being tossed from a viable league amid the dismantling of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).
In a blow to the 30-year-old sporting organisation, the Pioneers was the only existing SEABL team which applied for the new elite league that was knocked out.
Pioneers board chair Tom Kosch said yesterday it was important to “preserve” the club’s history and fight for its long term survival.
He revealed the board had worked quickly to compile a full business plan for the Big V State Championship League, which needed to be lodged by Sunday.
“The fate of the club’s application will be understood next week,” Mr Kosch said.
“The possibility to have both men’s and women’s teams included as part of Basketball Victoria’s Big V State Championship competition allows the club’s board to preserve its history and presents the opportunity to compete at a level in which the club could re-apply for Basketball Victoria’s ‘Elite’ competition in 12 months time,” Mr Kosch said.
He said the Pioneers was thrown a possible lifeline last week when it was presented the opportunity to provide an application for Basketball Victoria’s Big V competition.
Mr Kosch said Basketball Victoria could not be convinced the Pioneers could provide a competitive women’s team for the upcoming season in the elite league.
The Big V competition structure comprises of a large number of Victorian associations that compete over a range of divisions including state championship and youth league, men and women comprising of both metropolitan and regional associations competing over a range of divisions.
Mr Kosch thanked the community and the city’s business sector for throwing its support behind the Pioneers, which was evident at a recent community meeting in Mount Gambier.
“The community has been devastated by the news that our application was rejected and with the unknown future of the Pioneers,” Mr Kosch said.
