The last time basketball was talked about this much in Tasmania was back when the Devils were still in the competition.
In 1996, the last time a Tasmanian NBL side hit the hardwood, John Howard was sworn in as prime minister, France agreed to finally end nuclear testing, and Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to their 4th championship.
Images courtesy of Ben Hine
That was 22 years ago. Things change, and so has the popularity of basketball in the Apple Isle.
Tasmania has long been considered as incapable of being the home to professional sporting clubs, with the only current fully-professional team being the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash (cricket). It’s a start, but there’s more to be done. That’s when former Devils star and tech entrepreneur Justin Hickey comes into the scene.
With the recent revival of the Hobart Chargers in the SEABL thanks to former Premier David Bartlett following a debt close to $120,000 and depressing crowds, basketball in Tasmania is back up and running on it’s feet again, and Justin Hickey is taking full advantage of it.
Despite there being whispers of a Tasmanian team returning to the NBL for a number of years it’s only been behind the impact of Hobart Chargers president David Bartlett who has helped grow basketball into must see entertainment in the apple isle.
“The Preliminary final against the Geelong Supercats to be held this Friday will see well over 3,500 in the house for a SEABL game” Bartlett said exclusively to Aussie Hoopla.
“We have seen 40% increase in junior participation in the sport and close to 11,000 school kids through Chargers clinics in the last year alone. Grassroots growth is driving the sport and the Chargers have been proud to create this momentum. To go from average crowds of 300 in 2016 to having over 3,500 on Friday will be a very satisfying outcome that builds a great platform on which to launch an NBL bid”
On the 19th of July, the Southern Huskies were officially welcomed to the world, and the support from Tasmanian’s was so instantly overwhelming that even computers began losing their minds. On the opening day of their foundation membership sales, the Huskies site was howling, and the amount of memberships being bought at once led to computers all over the country to close the site due to the overload of supporters.
They also have over 5,600 Facebook followers, and fans are incredibly eager for the merchandise site to open… but Tasmania isn’t ready for a professional sporting club, right? Gill McLachlan, I’m talking to you.
“We’re sitting on 3,000 members, getting a couple hundred memberships a day and fully expect it to be over 5,000 before the end of the week” Justin Hickey told Aussie Hoopla.
“We’ve been selling hoodies, t-shirts and all sorts of merchandise not just in Australia, but Canada and Europe, and that’s no joke”
There is so much interest in getting a membership that the Huskies are most likely going to have a three year membership option which will give priority to members willing to sign up for a longer period of time, just to cater to the huge demand of fans wanting to lock in their seats for 2019-20.
“We are now looking to add a pavilion outside the stadium to give people a place to watch the games outside the stadium because we simply won’t have enough seats for the demand” added Hickey.
The swell of interest in the Huskies bid doesn’t simply stop in Tasmania. Hickey says they have sold Huskies merchandise via their online store all across Australia and overseas with a number of T-Shirts and Hoodies selling to fans in the USA, Canada and Europe.
Many of the 3,000 memberships currently sold are from fans of interstate teams who are buying sets of three and four individual memberships for themselves and family and leaving comments like “we are Adelaide 36ers fans but we are becoming members because want to see a stronger league”.
While the AFL continues to disappoint Tasmanian’s with the lack of respect and commitment from McLachlan to give them a team to get behind, Hickey has delivered a major slap to the face with the Huskies bid. While the current deals with Hawthorn and North Melbourne are great, both clubs are stable financially and in good condition, and neither of them will relocate to the state. Which in a way is great for Tasmanians, as all they want is their own team, built from the ground up, and I don’t blame them.
With the #WeTheSouth moniker, there to rival the NBA’s Toronto Raptors’ #WeTheNorth, now out for the world to see, Hickey has set his sights on the Derwent Entertainment Centre for the proposed club’s new home. It will reportedly take between $6-$20 million dollars in order for the bidding team to purchase the stadium from the Glenorchy City Council, which they then hope to invest more than $90 million into the precinct to officially make it the home of the Southern Huskies.
Not only do the plans take into account the design of the facility and seating numbers, but the money will also go into surrounding hotels and a training facility for the Huskies, making the Glenorchy region a must-stop destination in the state, meaning not only basketball in Tassie benefits, but the state government as well.
The Huskies bidding team have a meeting with NBL CEO Larry Kestelman tomorrow, and believe me when I say this, it’s a matter of when, not if, the Southern Huskies join the NBL it’s a bid almost undeniable from this point.
The Huskies are ready to howl… hopefully Mr Kestelman hears their call.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
