Coast can cash in on boom at World Cup
EVERYONE will be tuned in tonight at 6pm to see Australia play against Spain to go through to the gold medal game on Sunday at the basketball World Cup.
Aussie teams have previously fallen short several times at the Olympics and the World Cup at this stage to finish fourth.
However no Australian team has come into this stage undefeated.
Until now.
So how will the Boomers’ success impact basketball on the Gold Coast?
Numbers for grassroots basketball have increased significantly at the junior and senior levels over the past four years, with membership effectively doubling across the Gold Coast.
The popularity of the NBA with males is incredible, however the mainstream sports media still seem stuck in covering traditional Australian sports.
With the Boomers a chance to achieve a medal for the first time at a senior tournament, the profile of the sport will finally be increased domestically.
With the Tokyo Olympics next year and the potential of NBA stars Ben Simmons, Thon Maker and Ryan Broekhoff to appear in the green and gold, basketball will return to the boom days of the 1990s.
Locally, the Gold Coast has had another disappointing year for the major codes in national sporting competitions, with the Suns and Titans collecting wooden spoons.
There is always talk about the Gold Coast making a return to the NBL. Ultimately it will take the popularity of the sport to continue its ascent and some local businesses wanting to gamble on longterm success to financially back the possibility of a national league franchise, the last of which was the Blaze in 2012.
Get around the Boomers tonight, a win would surely get all of Australia’s attention for the team. Basketball, at least in my eyes, is effectively the world’s second biggest sport and Australia should be behind their boys.
NUMBERS FOR GRASSROOTS BASKETBALL HAVE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AT THE JUNIOR AND SENIOR LEVELS OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS