ROLLER REUNION
ACTION RETURNS TO CARRARA COURT
THIS Sunday, State League basketball is returning to Carrara Indoor Stadium.
When the Rollers host the Cairns Marlins, after a QBL season so far spent at The Southport School, it will bring back a lot of memories.
This stadium has been the home to Gold Coast Basketball for the past 30-plus years.
After receiving a facelift over the Commonwealth Games, so it didn't look the ugly duckling next to the massive Metricon Stadium and Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre, it is now back fully operational.
The site now has had an additional six squash courts placed at one end, as part of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games.
Squash Australia now has a national office on site.
It has been home to many Gold Coasters over the years and especially for the original NBL teams for the Gold Coast – Cougars and Rollers. In the heyday of Rollers games, there were packed houses of 4000-plus, with people standing in the aisles, with no regard to fire safety precautions.
“PC Turtle” – named after the Paradise Centre, Surfers Paradise – was the ridiculous mascot that copped plenty of abuse, but with a laugh from the crowds.
Due to the stadium’s large steel beams that ran through the main grandstands, obscure seating was prominent, with people stretching their heads to view the action.
Due to it effectively being a tin shed, sound bounced off the walls and when the home team got a breakaway dunk from a high-flyer like Leroy Combs or a hot streak from gunners Peter “Pistol” Hill or Ronnie “The Rat” Radliff, the place would explode.
Good times at the Rollerdome. The Rollers went under about the same time that the basketball boom of the 90s slid away in conjunction with the retirement of Michael Jordan.
It was only 10 years later that the Gold Coast Blaze was born and basketball in the region started to recover. The graveyard of professional sports teams on the Gold Coast makes for interesting bedfellows.
There will be a big crowd this weekend to welcome basketball back to Carrara, life members and former players will be out in force to see the old girl of Gold Coast basketball returning to her former glory.
Sunday’s QBL games tip off at 1pm (women) and 3pm (men).
North Gold Coast Seahawks travel to Ipswich on Sunday (noon, 2pm).