IT’S TIME TO RECHARGE

Basketball boss backs Tassie NBL return

BASKETBALL Australia is throwing its considerable weight behind Tasmania’s push to reenter the NBL.

On the back of the Southern Huskies surge, the Hobart Chargers unprecedented crowds and a SEABL grand final victory on Saturday night, the Launceston Tor- nadoes runner-up finish in the women’s SEABL and the North West Thunder making the finals and a surge in participation numbers, BA chairman Ned Coten believes it is time for Tasmanian to rejoin the national league.

“I’m particularly keen to have an NBL team out of Tasmania because I think the first sport that has a team in a truly national reg- ular league in any sport is really going to gain the high ground,” Coten said.

“I think basketball really has the opportunity to have a really high profile because it is a very inclusive game. It is boys, girls, abled, disabled, it can really involve the whole community.

“If we could get an NBL team back in Tasmania that would be a fantastic step forward not just for Tasmanian basketball but also for Australian basketball.”

The sport is going through a resurgence in Australia on the back of record Australian NBA participation, the return of Andrew Bogut to the NBL and a free-to-air deal between the league and the Nine Network.

While the NBL and BA run separately, the league is sanctioned by BA and Coten said the organisations speak regularly, especially with league owner Larry Kestelman.

“We would be very supportive of him (Kestelman) taking the league back into Tasmania because basketball there is clearly on the rise and we know from the effect it has had on all the other states and territories around Australia,” he said.

“It would have a particularly big impact in Tasmania because of the profile it would get.”

Coten lathered special praise on Chargers president David Bartlett and added the Southern Huskies would only add to the NBL’s momentum.

“We are very supportive,” Coten said.

“In terms of being able to help, I just think it is a case of doing everything that is being done now.

“The runs are being put on the board. I know there was a crowd of 4000 people there for the SEABL semi- final, that stuff helps a great deal.

“Larry Kestelman is a commercial guy and if he can see the results are on the board they are a lot more likely to get a team up and participating.”