Encountering courts both great and anything but
OVER the years, I’ve played in more than my fair share of basketball stadiums and today will be no different.
Almost halfway through my 17th and final Chemist Warehouse WNBL season, I am still experiencing firsts with the JCU Townsville Fire poised to make our debut on Bendigo’s new 4000- seat show court.
Having experienced the pain of grand final defeat on their old court ( despite all the championships I have won you never forget the losses) I’m looking forward to running out and experiencing the new venue for the first time.
Hopefully there’s plenty of suspension in the floor – my back, neck and everything else knows when there’s not – and the rings are kind to me.
The opportunity of playing on a new court today got me reminiscing about all the WNBL venues that I have played at since 1996 and I thought I would lift the lid on the good, the bad and the ugly.
When I first left the AIS, I had the good fortune of playing out at Homebush just after the Sydney Olympics and the facility was amazing ( as you would expect). We’d regularly play double headers with the Kings, which was always fun, and it was great to be able to put on a show.
The atmosphere that a home crowd can generate definitely flows on to the players and it’s one of the key reasons I signed in Townsville and chose to play out my career here.
The Fire faithful are our sixth man and they love us and we love them.
After defeating the Lightning last week, it dawned on me that it was more than likely my final game at Adelaide Arena and it was a venue that I always liked as well.
Maybe it was because I played there for a few years and I got used to the rings or maybe it was because of the venue itself, but it was hard not to feel nostalgic as I left.
One I won’t miss is Wayville.
While the Adelaide Lightning no longer play there – they did as recently as a few years back – it was a nightmare to play in and Tuggeranong against the UC Capitals wasn’t much better.
The lighting in the venue had you looking like you were a Simpsons character!
These days, most of the venues are pretty good – Melbourne and Perth spring to mind – while there’s still some improvement to be seen in some of the others.
Between now and February, however, I’m hoping I’ll get to leave each and every one of them with a win under my belt.