Basketball at risk in NSW due to lack of new facilities, major regional hub cops heavy funding blow

Basketball powerbrokers in New South Wales are calling for a serious cash splash on new facilities amid growing concerns about capacity as interest in hoops surges.

The sport has enjoyed a significant rise in popularity in the state, with Basketball NSW confirming a participation growth of 52 per cent since 2022, totalling over 300,000 participants.

There are currently 54 new courts across the state in the planning process to be built – with 12 of those courts to be completed by the end of the year.

However, Basketball NSW’s facilities strategy identifies a gap of 300 courts across the state to cater for the growing participation interest, which will require more funding to come to fruition.

There have been improvements with many council’s now identifying the need for indoor facilities in their planning processes.

This was not the case five years ago, according to Basketball NSW CEO Maria Nordstrom.

“We have a lot of catching up to do and each project takes five to seven years to complete with many hurdles to be completed in the process including funding,” Nordstrom said.

“Space is the biggest constraint for the game’s growth everywhere across the state.”

At present, Nordstrom says NSW has been “left behind” as the only state or territory in Australia that doesn’t have a home for basketball.

Basketball NSW failed to secure funding for two home of basketball projects in the past two election cycles.

Australia’s basketball GOAT Lauren Jackson took to social media after Code Sports’ special investigation detailing a lack of facilities across NSW.

Jackson made her frustrations clear in a well-worded post on her personal Instagram account.

“Girls participation in basketball is up 25 per cent since 2022 — but we’re turning kids away because there simply aren’t enough courts,” Jackson said.

“At a time of record growth, our infrastructure is falling behind.

“More courts mean more opportunities.

“More opportunities mean stronger communities and better outcomes — especially for girls and young people.

“The demand is there. Let’s meet it.”

The NSW State budget will be unveiled on Tuesday and it’s understood basketball is set to receive limited funding, if any in some regions.

On the plus side, Nordstrom confirmed there is a proposal in front of the state government to support a solution with Hoops Capital at Sydney’s Olympic Park.

“And we are hopeful this will come to bear,” she said.

CODE Sports can reveal Basketball NSW also has big plans to build “Excellence Centres” across the state to further support the sport’s growth.

The excellence hubs are critical for the strategy and the development of basketball at all levels. The hubs will be a one-stop shop for training, education and support for players, referees and officials in their local regions.

Albury, Dubbo, Newcastle and Illawarra have already been earmarked as locations to house Excellence Centres.

But Dubbo’s bid to receive much needed funding in the NSW Budget for a basketball and sports facility upgrade has copped a blow.

CODE Sports has learned the Western NSW hub (Dubbo Sports Hub) won’t receive a cent in the 2025 State Budget, which is a bitter blow for a city already reeling after having $48 million in pledged funding for a Sports Hub revoked at the end of 2024.

It means Dubbo - a population of over 55,000 and 200,000 if you include surrounding regions - will be left with a sub-par facility featuring two outdated courts with prehistoric wooden backboards, a leaking roof and a dodgy scoreboard.

Dubbo Basketball president Nick Hubbard couldn’t hide his disappointment and frustration when asked about the State Budget snub for his city.

“It is gut-wrenching,” Hubbard said.

“The amount of time and effort we put in for our kids and to get nothing, it is just disappointing.”

Hubbard took aim at the Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty - for recently declaring the government would only provide funding for “projects that are ready to go”.

“This (sports hub) project is designed and it is ready. It can’t be more ready,” he said.

“I mean, how ready do you want it? Do you want the material on the ground ready and waiting for you with an invoice ready for payment?

“She has already stripped the money from the project. Now she is saying there is money ready for projects ready to go. We’re ready to go and we got nothing.”

Dubbo mayor Josh Black has vowed to continue the fight for his city despite the latest budget setback.

“Got nothing - so bad,” Black said.

“Back to square one and press restart. Can’t give up now.

“I’ll make a start on it tomorrow after tonight’s council meeting.”

There is also a strong desire to build EC’s in Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Griffith, Ballina and Central Coast.

Sydney will also have Excellence Centres located on the Northern Beaches, Western Sydney, South west Sydney, Sydney East and South.

Plans are underway for an Excellence Centre in Newcastle to be located in New Lambton opposite McDonald Jones Stadium.

The 12-court facility is currently going through a state level DA process and officials hope the project will move forward in the next 12 months.

Illawarra has been behind in planning, but the NBL championship success of the Hawks could help to fast track projects.

On top of an upgrade of the WIN Entertainment Centre in downtown Wollongong, there are also plans for a bigger indoor venue in Beaton Park.

These plans are currently going through the local council.

Officials are hopeful of securing a 10 to 12 court facility that will cater for an elite team as a training base and potentially host a WNBL game in the future.

SUPPLY NOT MEETING DEMAND

NSW has produced elite talent including Josh Green, Lauren Jackson, Nick Kay, Lauren Nicholson, Shyla Heal and NBA draft bound guard Tyrese Proctor but as the grassroots numbers continue to grow, officials say so too must the access to more courts or risk losing talent from the game to other sports and states.

The court constraint is felt everywhere in the state with Manly Warringah Basketball association on Sydney’s Northern Beaches a prime example.

The organisation has knocked back approximately “220 teams so far this year” because of a lack of access to courts, with officials estimating that has left over 2000 kids with nowhere to play.

General manager Duane Jordan says the association simply can’t meet the demand of the community with the current six-court shared school and multi-code facility next to North Narrabeen Primary school.

“A problem for us is the court spaces we have access to. Our primary space is a six-court facility, but with the popularity of the sport we need more than double that to meet the local demand,” Jordan told CODE Sports.

“We are limited to grow because of the lack of courts … we’re losing people who are interested because they don’t have the opportunity to join our association, junior programs or competitions. Everything has a time and I think basketball’s time is now.

“We don’t want to limit the popularity of the sport through lack of access.”

Lack of access also limits access for adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball and other formats of basketball such as masters, walking basketball and special needs programs.

Jordan is calling for a financial investment to expand the facility and level the playing field with fellow basketball-rich state of Victoria, where some stadiums are accommodating up to 18 courts.

Securing funding has proved a challenge for the Northern Beaches, despite support from local MPs.

Jordan revealed several projects are in the pipeline to improve the shortage.

“We are hopeful to see investment in these projects coming to fruition to support young people on the Northern Breaches being able to join basketball without fighting for a spot every time registrations for competitions open in February and July each year,” he said.

Elsewhere in the state, Dubbo Sports Hub had $48 million in pledged funding revoked at the end of 2024 (as mentioned earlier) with funding being withdrawn from the project.

The two-court indoor facility was set for a five-court air-conditioned upgrade, but project costs blowouts were blamed for the funding switch-up.

It’s left Dubbo – a population of over 55,000 and 200,000 if you include surrounding regions – with a sub-par facility featuring just two outdated courts with prehistoric wooden backboards.

The roof at the venue leaks when it rains, while there isn’t adequate heating or cooling. This is especially the case in summer when it is a 45 degree day.

Last week, the Dubbo Rams hosted Sutherland Sharks and the scoreboards crashed due to internet issues.

The night coincided with protests to “Save our sports hub” – a timely reminder that the city and its budding basketballers deserve better.

Dubbo Basketball president Nick Hubbard won’t stop campaigning until he sees change to the current situation that has his association knocking back kids keen to play and rep teams that must find alternate venues to train.

“We travel to all around the state as rep teams to compete and we see towns that are much smaller than ours and we play in these beautiful, modern facilities that have all been built and provided to these communities by different government departments,” Hubbard said.

“Yet in Dubbo, which has a direct population of 40 plus thousand and service area of thousands and thousands of square kilometres and a much greater population can’t get funding to service the community.”

Hubbard has the backing of Dubbo Regional Council chief executive officer Murray Wood.

“The Orana region is passionate about basketball, with many in our community heavily involved in the sport and hoping to take their passion and skill for the game to a competitive level,” Wood told CODE Sports.

“Unfortunately we do not have the facilities at present to support this next generation of professional basketball athletes to grow and develop.

“We know we have the raw talent within the region, it’s just a matter of securing a top-tier facility to nurture this.”

Nordstrom is hopeful to see new funding allocated to the much needed project in Dubbo, which is also earmarked to be the state’s Western Excellence Hub for basketball when it’s completed.

For grassroots associations, the goal is to not only facilitate the next generation of elite basketballers, but to support every community member who wants to play local basketball, learn new skills and feel connected.

This also include the growing for wheelchair basketball.

However, many facilities across the state are more than four decades old and are failing to meet the required standards for accessibility.

Nordstrom says the demand is high and “our sport is inclusive, we provide opportunity for all, but it’s really hard when you don’t have the adequate accessibility and space.“

Jordan also echoed the call for more courts with appropriate facilities.

“In order to work with programs for special needs kids, they need consistency and dependability, they don’t need a random one day and not the next.”

JACKSON UPGRADE IN ALBURY STALLED

The Lauren Jackson stadium in Albury - named after Australia’s basketball GOAT - is currently being upgraded but the second phase plan has been put on the backburner.

The Albury Cougars released a strongly worded statement expressing their “disappointment” that the Stage 2 upgrade of the Jackson stadium has been moved to the unfunded projects list for the 2025-2029 budget financial years.

The first stage is set to be finished at the end of the year, but the second phase plan for additional courts, a foyer and amenities is now under threat.

“We need additional courts in Albury; we feel that this is an oversight and needs to be reconsidered,” the Cougars statement read.

“While it is acknowledged that funding has been allocated to complete the existing upgrade, this doesn’t address the immediate needs of both basketball and all other indoor sports that could be played.

“We ask that the council reconsider the decision not to complete the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and Aquatics Facility - Stage 2 Preliminary Design. Without it we are unable to work across all levels of government for additional funding opportunities to assist with this development.”

WHAT THE RESULT CAN LOOK LIKE

Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium has just reopened its doors after its recent redevelopment.

A primarily basketball-based facility, more than 1500 members use the region’s largest indoor sports facility each week.

But prior to the upgrade the stadium reached the point of cancelling nights of play due to a leaking roof and condensation, building frustration within the community.

Since 2022, a damaged stadium roof had caused more than 30 nights of competition shut down due to leakages.

With a combination of funding from Bathurst Regional Council, the Australian Federal government, in addition to the NSW state government’s Level the Playing Field grant of $1.15m, the roof, stadium flooring and grandstand have been replaced. LED lighting has been installed in each sports hall and changerooms have been renovated to be fully accessible.

Basketball NSW managed the project supported by Bathurst Regional Council and were able to complete the much needed upgrades supporting a local business in Bathurst for the new roofing system and completed the project within 12 months.

“It’s obviously important to invest in the upgrades to continue to be able to host statewide events or attract new users to the stadium,” stadium manager for Basketball NSW, Andrew James told CODE Sports.

“This now means the region has a facility they can be proud to use and know they will be playing rail, hail or shine.”

There are also a host of basketball facilities across the state in the process of being built.

These include:

Nordstrom urged all levels of government to expand funding opportunities – not only for the refurbishment of ageing venues plagued by leaking roofs, but more critically, for the development of new, purpose-built indoor facilities.

“These venues are more than just sporting infrastructure,” she said.

“They are essential community hubs that accommodate a range of indoor sports and also offer vital spaces for programs that engage youth and support the elderly. Such spaces help combat social isolation and foster a stronger sense of community belonging, something that has been deeply missed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”