The Shepparton Sports Stadium is Basketball Victoria’s “number one regional priority”.
Basketball Victoria general manager of government relations and facilities Jake Keogh said he had a meeting in Shepparton with Greater Shepparton City Council about the stadium just a few weeks ago.
“It’s been an issue we have been aware of for many years,” Mr Keogh said.
“The stats speak volumes.”
Basketball Victoria has a formula to determine what portion of a region’s population are involved in basketball per 100 people.
Shepparton sits at 2.4 per cent, just a bit behind the benchmark for what Basketball Victoria looks for as a minimum to suggest evidence of a healthy and enthusiastic basketball community.
When you take the facilities into account, Shepparton is loosely competitive with much bigger towns that have had far more investment in basketball over the years.
Bendigo, Ballarat, and other “remote cities” in Victoria sit closer to four per cent, almost double Shepparton’s participation rates.
According to Mr Keogh, it is a mistake to interpret this disparity in participation as a valid reason for the Shepparton Sports Stadium to have not been upgraded.
Instead, the Shepparton Sports Stadium’s lack of upgrades over the years should be perceived as the direct explanation for why Shepparton trails other towns so much in participation rates.
“There’s nothing special in the water in those other towns,” Mr Keogh said.
“The only difference we can see between them and Shepparton is those towns have much better facilities.
“Shepparton is capped with those facilities, so it can only have so much participation, and it has stalled while other towns have continued to grow.”
Mr Keogh said Shepparton’s basketball community was a resilient one and that its ability to succeed and grow in recent years despite the outdated facilities was a testament to the dedication of the players, coaches and parents.
It “takes a village”, and this should reinforce that new facilities and courts would immediately be “snapped up” and utilised by the Shepparton community.
He said the Shepparton Gators’ ability to succeed without much support and make it to the Big V’s top league, the Championship, was nothing short of miraculous.
He said he doubted any other team or town at the Championship level would have facilities that were as poor quality or outdated.
Mr Keogh said the Gators’ inability to access the stadium outside of training put them at a disadvantage to other Big V players.
He said this extended to juniors and was relevant to all of Victorian basketball.
“We have elite programs across the state, and we have one running out of Shepparton,” Mr Keogh said.
“We rely on them to feed us players for the Victorian team.
“Especially given Shepparton’s location as sort of the regional hub in northern Victoria.
“They say it takes 10,000 hours to really impact sport, and without the practice and the ability to get on a court, Shepparton won’t be able to compete.”
He singled out the relatively small seating capacity as a significant issue looming in the future, referring to the Shepparton Sports Stadium and its facilities.
The venue has only about 500 bleacher seats and poor alternative seating options, which Mr Keogh said just wouldn’t cut it at Championship level.
“Big V games at that level regularly exceed 1000 people,” he said.
“Shepparton wouldn’t be able to host many finals games or grand finals; there’s just not enough capacity.
“They’re going to struggle with seating throughout the season.”
Mr Keogh said Basketball Victoria would love to bring events to Shepparton, but the facilities weren’t viable for NBL or WNBL games.
He emphasised that beyond an obvious boost to the local economy, these events were great for the local community, drove enthusiasm within the next generation of players, and would help grow the basketball community.
He said Basketball Victoria would ideally like to spread marquee fixtures out and that there was a lack of northern Victorian basketball facilities.
A premier facility in Shepparton would be met with countless opportunities to host events.
“There is no reason for Shepparton to be so far behind,” Mr Keogh said.
“It’s a strong community.
“High-quality athletes come out of that town every one to two years.
“It’s no different to those other towns, it is just the facilities, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t get that upgrade.”
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