Harbour Basketball continues growing in tough times

NZCT has awarded $125K to Harbour Basketball Association for office salary support.

Harbour Basketball Association CEO, John Hunt says "Harbour Basketball was incorporated in 1972 and celebrated its 50th Jubilee in September last year. In 2011 we had 44 primary school teams and 95 intermediate school teams playing in our competitions. This year we have just closed off entries for the first semester with new record numbers of 160 primary school teams and 193 intermediate school teams. This growth in our competition numbers has been exceptional and we are now the largest and most successful basketball association in New Zealand."

"This growth in participation numbers has necessitated the development of coaches and referees for the record number of teams. We aim to have two referees for every game in our competitions and are busy developing coaches. As most parents in New Zealand did not play basketball as a sport we have been helping many of them to become entry-level coaches for their children’s teams."

"This year’s grant paid towards salaries came at a particularly challenging time for our organisation as we were hit hard by the January 27th floods in Auckland. Our main venue, Eventfinda Stadium, was flooded as were our offices. There will be two temporary courts installed at the Stadium until all four courts are replaced in July."

"Our 2022-23 primary and intermediate school competition entries have increased by more than 20%, meaning that we have to find venues for over 350 teams, sixty more than last year. Losing access to our main venue has made this an extraordinary challenge for our Competitions Manager. We have accessed multiple single-court venues to accommodate this year’s record level of entries, each of which requires a dedicated venue controller and referees."

Basketball is now the largest secondary school sport by participation in our region, and is the largest sport played by boys across all age groups. NZCT saw the growth in basketball many years ago and has been a key partner for us for over ten years. Our office now employs ten staff members and is the largest regional basketball office in New Zealand.

Without NZCT’s ongoing support towards our office salaries, we would have been unable to cater to the extraordinary demand in our region. We are determined to offer a level of competition to every team that has entered our competitions in 2023.