Canberra’s young basketballers competing for space as well as points amid severe court shortage

Basketball teams are vying for space due to a severe shortage of courts across Canberra, leading to calls for action from the ACT government.

Those within the sport and representatives of Basketball ACT say up to four teams are often forced to train at the same time on a single court, while junior players are being forced to train at 10:00pm on school nights.

Basketball participation numbers have skyrocketed in the territory, with nearly 100 more teams registered to play in Canberra this season.

There are now a total of 540 teams, encompassing under-10 juniors and the under-19s.

The Canberra City Stallions train at Lyneham High School and often there are four teams training on a court which club president James Savoulidis says is not up to scratch. 

“The floor is not the best, the lines are not regulation, rings are crooked and do not have nets and we only have access to one bathroom which is the female bathroom,” Mr Savoulidis said.

Meanwhile, the Weston Creek Woden Dodgers are turning prospective players away because teams are already overflowing.

“We have a long waiting list of parents that are keen for their kids to play but we just have to keep them on hold hopefully for next season,” said the club’s vice-president, Grant Keys.

Future of the sport uncertain

The Stallions have had parents pull their children out of the sport because it is too hard to get them to games.

“They need more venues for games, then the games are not from 8:00am to 10:00pm, they are at a more family-friendly timeslot,” Mr Savoulidis said.

Mr Keys feels the pain — his three children all play basketball, leading to what he describes as a logistical nightmare.

“They use five different training venues, so having to drop kids off at one place and go to another and then pick another one up is hard work for parents,” he said.

Mr Savoulidis is worried the problem will stunt the progress of players at a time where they have more talent coming through.

“Even if you look at the Canberra Capitals — we are doing great but there is not that much local talent on the team — that is because we are not looking after the grassroots.”

What is the fix?

Basketball ACT estimates it would need to find more than 50 hours of court space every week just to run competitions.

But competition courts are already in use from 8:00am until 10:00pm from Friday to Sunday.

Upgrading existing courts to a competition standard would ease the burden on game days, but they say it will not address the problem clubs are having at training.

Basketball ACT says it is working with the ACT government about how it can access more facilities, including at new schools.

It is even talking to private schools about the possibility of utilising their courts.

The ACT government has been contacted for comment.