Claims lack of quality facilities in NP holding back basketball
New Zealand’s top basketball administrator has weighed in on the Tūparikino Active Community Hub debate.
Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) chief executive Dillon Boucher said one of the biggest barriers to participation was the lack of quality facilities.
“It’s an important focus for BBNZ looking ahead, as basketball continues to grow as New Zealand’s most popular sport for youth,” he said.
BBNZ and Basketball Taranaki are in favour of option two of the sports hub, which will see an extension of the three-court TSB Stadium to seven courts at the New Plymouth racecourse with a $35 million price tag.
It is just one of three hub-related options, part of the New Plymouth District Council’s draft $4 billion 10-year long-term plan.
Option two also includes a multi-use artificial turf, if funding allows, and upgrades to the grass sports field.
It’s a significantly reduced version of the original plans, which ballooned to $110m before it was put on hold.
Other options include not proceeding at all, and building the stadium along with a multi-use area and increased developments to the sports field, which would cost $50m.
Having grown up in New Plymouth, Boucher knows how much the region would benefit from having an improved facility. It would directly meet the growing needs of the community, he said.
“The positive outcomes are numerous; it helps our aspiring athletes to reach their goals, it’s a hub for the community to enjoy and it brings events to this region to help it flourish.”
Basketball Taranaki general manager Kevin Fenwick said the current stadium was no longer meeting the sport’s needs, and he had first-hand evidence of that in his interactions with the community.
“I’ve received phone calls from parents with distraught kids because they can’t play basketball in the New Plymouth school leagues this year,” he said.
“The stadium is at capacity and teams are being turned away.”
The current venue was being snubbed by BBNZ as a possible host of their 32 tournaments during the year.
Instead, the TSB Stadium had been allocated a minor tournament as it does not meet the criteria to host large events, Fenwick said.
Other provincial venues were better served, he said. For example Napier and Tauranga have nine-court facilities, and Palmerston North boasts 13.
Volleyball Taranaki’s Phil Gayton said sport had also been affected by other demands on the venue.
“If we get bumped because of expos or corporate events, we struggle to find space on other nights,” he said. “We need a facility that’s just for community sport.”
North ward councillor Tony Bedford agreed but only supported the stadium expansion and not developments in the middle of the racecourse.
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