Following the HoopsFest basketball festival in September 2024, it has been announced that Perth will be hosting the National Basketball Competition from September 27 to October 3, 2025, marking the first time the event has been held in the West.
Around 720 participants from Australia’s top 48 boys and girls junior teams will be heading west to compete across six days.
According to Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti, it’s a huge win for Perth, attracting tourism, creating jobs and stimulating the state’s economy, as hundreds of people flock to Willetton Stadium for the event.
The event also offers a big opportunity for the state’s best young players. Eastern Suns prospect Lasiana Edgar, 16, says that this opportunity, as a younger basketballer, would’ve been massive.
“When I was 12, turning 13, we had our U14 state program. However, due to COVID we unfortunately had to compete in WA for a development opportunity. If I had this opportunity as a 13-year-old, it would’ve been great for my development and so I could learn what kids from other states were doing.”
Eastern Suns development coordinator and U14 boys lead coach Declan Kinsella similarly stressed the importance of events such as this for younger athletes.
“I believe it is exceptionally important. There are two main factors that I believe are big in this case. Number one is that our U14 athletes could have the opportunity to compete against the best athletes from around the nation in one place.
“The other element is competing in tournament play. You look at all of the Basketball Australia national tournaments, whether it be Junior National Championships, School Championships, or the Club Championships, both U14s and U18s, so I would say it is extremely important for the long-term development of high-performance athletes they compete in these settings.”
A survey published by Allianz in July revealed that 30 per cent of children under 15 have asked their parents if they can stop playing out-of-school sports, with an additional 30 per cent of surveyed parents saying their child had stopped playing out-of-school sports due to losing interest.
Kinsella believes that events such as the Club Championships give clubs and organisers the opportunity to revitalise kids’ passion and interest for the sport.
“You look at things like the Gather Round with the AFL, and the impact of the most recent HoopsFest, from an administrative standpoint, we’ve had so many kids enter our programs after seeing the HoopsFest earlier this year. I think it already has gone a long way, and will only continue to improve.”
Toby Hamilton, 17, who no longer plays basketball, agrees that access to more big events such as the Club Championships is crucial to retaining young players.
“Injury was my main reason for retirement, but there are definitely a lot less kids playing nowadays. A lot of kids either don’t care about sports anymore or see school as more important. If I had these kinds of opportunities when I was younger it definitely would’ve pushed me to stay with the sport a bit more.”
Despite the dwindling numbers, basketball still has a huge base in Australia. A report published by the Australian Sports Commission in 2023, showed basketball was the second most popular team sport for children under 14 in major cities, with 247,000 kids participating.