THE wait is almost over for action to return to the courts of the Icehouse after Basketball Mount Gambier announced when competition can be played again.
All Limestone Coast competitions from the South East Coast Basketball League (SECBL) to the beginners program will begin from Monday, July 20.
Basketball Mount Gambier development manager Matt Sutton said everything is in place for tip off.
“We are good to go for competitions,” he said.
“It is just pending on indoor sport restrictions, registering everyone and allowing the amount of time between each session to clean.
“We will have to record each person that comes into the stadium, so it is just those little things which will affect how we run each competition.”
There have been some changes to the structure and schedule of the busy program, which includes 20 competitions spread across five nights.
Part of that is the addition of a Junior Women competition, aimed at players aged between 16 and 20.
It will be played on a Monday night alongside the Under 17 girls competition, which was previously Under 16s on a Wednesday.
Sutton said the changes were made to bring more females to the sport.
“Our hope for the Under 17 girls competition is for it to get a bit more attention and become really competitive for those girls who are pursuing basketball on their path to get to A Grade,” he said.
“The new Junior Women competition we have started is based at new and developing players who just want to come out and have a little bit of fun with their friends.
“Hopefully it will encourage a few more people and help with our retention of players after Under 16s.”
The SECBL men and women tournaments remain in their Wednesday night time slots, while the schedule rounds out with the beginners program on Friday.
Sutton said it took a lot of time and effort to reach this landmark.
“It is the result of a lot of hard work from the board and committee,” he said.
“We started (training sessions) as soon as we were allowed to have people on court and tried to facilitate that so we could move with the progress of the restrictions.
“I think we have done a reasonably good job, so now we are ready to start the competitions.”
During the absence of on-court action, Sutton has been busy conducting training sessions to keep the players’ skills alive.
They have progressed from online group calls to face-to-face drills when restrictions allowed basketball to return to the Icehouse.
The latest is the Holiday Hoops program, which is designed for youngsters of all abilities in the second week of the school holidays.
Sutton said the programs have been a success and whetted the appetite for basketball-loving kids around the Limestone Coast.
“Our sessions have been growing and are a lot of fun,” he said.
“It has been really good to see all the kids back and there has been heaps of enthusiasm and smiles.”
With tip off now within reach, Sutton said it has been a long journey to be ready for play.
“I am really proud of the basketball community and how they have handled it,” he said.
“It has been hard work, but everyone has been really supportive and understanding of us trying to get the sport back.
“So come the first round in term three, hopefully we can see the reward with some smiles and everyone enjoying the sport of basketball again.”
Player registrations for the upcoming season are now available at Basketball Mount Gambier’s social media and web pages.
