Breakers to play in Taranaki

Sport Taranaki has confirmed the Skycity Breakers will play the Cairns Taipans in New Plymouth early next year.

Taking the NBL competition to wider New Zealand has always been an ambition of the Breakers, and general manager Dillon Boucher says he is thrilled to bring a season game to Taranaki.

“The basketball community is very strong in Taranaki so it was an obvious choice when deciding who would host this date.

“New Plymouth is my home town and the place where I first started playing basketball. I can remember idolising the players in the New Zealand NBL and wanting to play at that level, so to now have the opportunity to bring the Skycity Breakers to town and hopefully inspire the next generation of players is something very special.”

Sport Taranaki commercial manager Therese Campbell says Sport Taranaki has supported two previous preseason games in New Plymouth and is thrilled to now be bringing an actual NBL season game here.

“To say Sport Taranaki is excited to bring a sporting fixture of this calibre to the region is an understatement. This is a passionate basketball region and the sport is growing at unprecedented rates.”

She says there were a few major hurdles to secure the game around basketball equipment at the TSB stadium not meeting NBL standards.

“Fortunately negotiations with Rotorua City Council have enabled New Plymouth to secure a hire arrangement for the equipment to make the game possible.

“The Sport Taranaki Board has taken a leap of faith to make this happen. Sport Taranaki is confident with the encouragement we have received from our Board, TSB Stadium management, Venture Taranaki, NPDC, TSB Community Trust and sponsors to date that we can

do this. Come January we need basketball fans from not only Taranaki but the rest of New Zealand to pack out the TSB Stadium and make the Skycity Breakers game a huge success.”

■ The game is on January 24, ticket details available shortly.