With the Illawarra Hawks changing their name to the “Hawks” and announced they would be playing games outside of Wollongong this season it created a huge opportunity for basketball hotbeds without NBL teams to see NBL action in their areas.
Newcastle Basketball has made the first move towards being considered a venue for the Hawks as a new $25 million indoor stadium at Hillsborough is expected to be ready to host NBL games either this season or next depending on construction.
The facility will have a show court capable of seating 4,000 fans as well as 10 courts for social basketball competitions. It will be the largest indoor basketball complex in NSW and will be home to basketball, volleyball, wheelchair sports plus a host of other community sporting and cultural activities.
While the Hawks will continue to be based in Wollongong NBL boss Larry Kestelman noted that Newcastle were pushing to host Hawks games and that the NBL want to take games to Canberra during the 2020-21 season.
“There’s a lot of (basketball) interest out of Newcastle and I think sometimes we forget that all of regional NSW is almost as big as Melbourne” Kestleman said in April.
It is believed the Hawks could take as many as four games on the road next season with Darwin, West Sydney and Tasmania also mentioned as potential cities for Hawks home games.
Acting NSW Minister for Sport Geoff Lee noted the Hillsborough stadium in Newcastle would be a sports and entertainment hub.
“The new stadium will take basketball in the Hunter to a new level and it will have the capability to host national and state tournaments each year,” Mr Lee said.
“A new generation of fans will be inspired while watching the superstars in action in this world-class facility. This is a big win for basketball and the entire Hunter region.”
Newcastle Basketball General Manager Neil Goffet noted that the area required a state-of-the-art basketball facility with the sport of basketball booming in Newcastle.
“Registration numbers have almost doubled in the last few years and catering for that growth is becoming increasingly difficult,” Mr Goffet said.
The NBL draw for 2020-21 is expected to be released soon on the back of the NBL announcing a tentative start date of December 3rd.
The Hawks have signed six-time NBL championship-winning coach Brian Goorjian to a two-year deal to head the club as it looks to retain some of it’s younger players as well as sign key free agents once NBL Free Agency officially opens on July 1st.
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.
