Chargers put cash in kitty
THE Hobart Chargers will enter the 2019 SEABL season debt-free and either on target or ahead of all major goals with one year remaining on an original three-year plan.
Under the guidance of president David Bartlett, the organisation has wiped more than $100,000 of debt off the books to now have a small cash surplus in the bank.
Coach Anthony Stewart delivered this year’s men’s championship to the club, while the initial aim of having 15,000 school students involved in clinics has been smashed by an astonishing 10,000 participants.
Bartlett remains confident the lofty ambition of averaging 2500 fans to game nights can also be ticked off next season, building on the momentum of the 3500 who flocked to the DEC for the preliminary final against Geelong last month.
“Everyone can see the achievements we made on the court this year but the fantastic thing at the end of this season is the club is completely debtfree, we will end up with a modest cash surplus in the bank,” Bartlett said.
“We have grown over the last two years our crowds by 140 per cent on average.
“If we stick to our threeyear plan, by the end of next season we will be the strongest SEABL club in the nation.”
Bartlett also believes the uproar around the proposed changes to the competition, revealed last week, was an over-reaction.
The SEABL is unlikely to continue in its current form beyond next year with Basketball Australia opting to no longer run the competition, and Tasmania’s three clubs look certain to join a new Victorian league which will sit above the Big V.
“I am 100 per cent confident that all three Tasmanian SEABL teams will continue to play in Australia’s premier winter basketball roster,” Bartlett said.
Meanwhile, the Southern Huskies consortium continue to work behind the scenes as they await an outcome on the sale of the DEC. Justin Hickey and Mike Sutton, who were in Hobart yesterday to meet government officials, are forging ahead with plans to put a team on the floor in 2019 — even if it isn’t in the NBL.
It is understood plans are in place to initially join a competition in New Zealand or Asia in an effort to show NBL bosses the Huskies brand — which has already signed up more than 5000 members — is ready.