Local win-win with age-group champs
TOWNSVILLE Basketball has emerged as one of the big winners from an updated representative schedule as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease.
Townsville will retain its scheduled Under-12 and Under-14 Queensland North Junior Basketball Championship (QNJBC) being held next month, as well as the Under-12 State Championships being held from the end of September.
Senior local competition games will also get under way from July 14, followed by junior games across the weekend of July 18-19.
“The August QNJBC tournament will see visitors from Cairns to Mackay come to our stadium as their only preparation tournament before the State Championships,” said Townsville Basketball general manager Mark Wrobel.
The annual QNJBC is usually held over three tournaments, but due to a restricted timeline only the Townsvillebased tournament will go ahead.
“The representative season has been under much debate throughout the whole shutdown and Basketball Queensland has worked with all of the associations across the state to ensure that the State Championships could go ahead if possible,” Wrobel said.
“For us to be able to host the Under-12 Championships in the September and October school holidays will be a great boost for the Townsville economy, with as many as 50 teams expected to travel here to take part.”
The likelihood of the tournaments going ahead continues to get higher as Queensland continues to manage the COVID-19 pandemic well, but Wrobel warned they could still be cancelled due to the health outcomes over the next months.
The full calendar for the updated State Championships for Basketball Queensland can be found at basketballqld.com.au