$18M HOOP DREAM
Cairns Basketball has plans for WNBL team but needs a hand
AN $18 million play for a Women’s National Basketball League team in Cairns is under way. Indi Bowen-Bowyer and current WNBL player Teyla Evans (pictured) are backing the move by Cairns Basketball to build an $18m stadium to host national women’s basketball in the Griffiths Park sporting pre- cinct at Manunda. But it will need the helping hand of the Cairns Regional Council and state and federal government funding.
MOMENTUM is building behind a push to build an $18 million basketball stadium and extra courts so Cairns can get a team in the Women’s National Basketball League.
Cairns Basketball’s extension hopes are a long-term plan with bricks and mortar work unlikely to begin sooner than three years from now.
But the dream of having a female answer to the Cairns Taipans is advancing.
Cairns Regional Council last year released a redevelopment concept for the Griffiths Park sporting precinct behind the Cairns Marlins’ Fish Tank facility at Manunda.
The precinct is home to cricket and AFL clubs and the West Cairns Bowls Club. The plan hinges on co-operation between all parties.
Division 7 Councillor Max O’Halloran said it was time Griffiths Park got the same treatment as the rest of the region’s sporting fields with state-of-the-art clubhouses and greatly improved parking.
“This is probably our last fa- cility in town that needs a bit of a kickstart,” he said.
Cr O’Halloran said the Cairns Cricket Association this week agreed to sign over its lease with the State Government to the council in return for improved facilities.
If successful, Cairns Basketball will extend into land currently restricted for cricket with a stadium big enough to join the WNBL.
Cairns Basketball general manager Mike Scott said the project would require about $18 million in funding.
“There’s a few dead spots you can reconfigure to make the whole place work better,” he said.
“We’re already at capacity, we’re building another court and will be at capacity before that even goes online.
“The proposal to grow into Griffiths Park gives us a strategic plan for the future.
“The alternative would be to find a greenfield site and start again, but that’s not economically viable.”
Mr Scott said his organisation wanted to ensure girls who played basketball had the same opportunities as boys.