NO QUIET TIME FOR NEW BOSS
NEW Townsville Basketball general manager Callam Betts has barely had a quiet moment since starting his role last week.
The lifelong basketball fanatic has taken over from long-serving Townsville Basketball general manager Greg Vanderjagt, and is busy coordinating the association’s clean-up events in the wake of the city’s floods.
With Townsville hosting the Under-18 Australian Basketball Championships in April, and with the Queensland Basketball League season starting the same month, Betts has been parachuted into a demanding time for Townsville Basketball.
“The stadium’s still shut and we have a bit of work ahead of us to get it functioning again,” Betts said.
“The carpets are ripped up and the courts are a little bit cut, but we’ll make some decisions. We still have some assessors to have a look and we’ll know a bit more later in the week, so hopefully we can trend towards getting it back on track as soon as possible.
“We had a small crew of QBL players and coaches do a bit of a tidy up on Sunday, so the community has been great. They’ve helped us from the get go.”
Betts started playing basketball in the local competition’s under-8s division, and progressed through the ranks into seniors. He has also been a referee and coach.
He knows the local basketball community like the back of his hand, which is why Betts considers his new role a dream job.
“It was an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he said.
“I was very excited to get the offer.
“I’ve been a referee, been a coach and a player, so the only hat I guess I hadn’t worn was in administration.
“The staff here are fantastic, the community is fantas-
The stadium’s still shut and we have a lot of work ahead of us to get it functioning again CALLAM BETTS
tic, so you can’t really ask for any more than that.”
Betts knows he is filling big shoes, with Vanderjagt widely praised for overseeing a steady rise in player numbers, along with a string of QBL successes including Towns- ville’s two QBL championship wins.
“He’s been great in the handover and we’ve always had a great working relationship, and he’s left it in a really good position,” he said.
“Greg’s done a fantastic job and he’s really set it up, and it’s good to take over and move forward.”
“Numbers are great with juniors, the QBL program was a big success last year and we have nationals coming up in April, which we’ll be work- ing really hard to get ready for. So once we get through this weather event we’ll be aiming high.
“It’s a great community to be involved in and they’ve been ready to rock n roll, and we’re ready to rock n roll.”