Presidents say local basketball is about to die
Game over: basketball in Leongatha is on the verge of dying, with a dearth of new people volunteering to be administrators for the game.
By Matt Dunn
BASKETBALL is on the verge of collapse in Leongatha, with the junior competition likely to fall over some time next season.
The presidents of both the senior and junior competitions say no one is putting up their hands to take over committee jobs, with not enough volunteers to administrate the game next year.
“There’s a few of us there who are running the senior committee. Some of the people have been there 20-odd years and they don’t have children anymore. They just want to move on and do something else. There’s very few of us running the seniors now anyway,” senior president Wally Fleming said.
While some are ready to quit, others are moving away.
The senior secretary is moving to Cranbourne after more than a decade in the role. The secretary performed many functions, well and above what was stipulated in her job description, meaning more than just a secretary will be lost.
And while the organisation has asked new people to step up and take over the vital administrative roles, no one is willing to take up the challenge.
“There’s jobs to do and we can’t find anyone to do them,” Mr Fleming said.
How much life has the committee got in it?
“There’s probably not much, to be honest. I’ve been president about five years, and I only took that job on because I couldn’t find anyone else to do it and I still haven’t found anyone else to do it,” he said.
Like the junior president, Brad Wright, Mr Fleming is ready to give up the role.
Mr Fleming said he feared the sport would not exist in Leongatha in the very near future.
“We could hand it over to the YMCA. In other towns the YMCA has taken over and basketball has died. They took it over in Inverloch and there’s no junior basketball down there as far as I know,” he said.
“It’s happened in a lot of other towns too. The YMCA is a non-profit organisation but it runs things to make a profit. They’ve got wages to pay to run these things.
“We’re all supported by volunteers, so it doesn’t cost anything to run.”
Mr Fleming said that if “basketball died in the area” Leongatha Splash would be a big loser, not to mention the South Gippsland Shire Council, which helps fund the facility.
The facility makes money through court hire fees, a contentious $2 door charge and what is spent at the canteen.
“The big part of it for me is that kids should be playing sport, whether it be basketball or something else. If they’re playing a sport they’re not wandering around the streets and getting into trouble,” he said.
Mr Wright does not have children playing basketball now and is ready to hand the presidential baton to someone who does.
“No one puts their hand up. I think it’s a general problem with all committees,” he said.
“At this stage the basketball will get up and running next season, but halfway through that season we’ll have the AGM. That’s when people nominate for the committee. I know the majority of the senior committee is pulling the pin.
“There’s probably four or five who are stepping down from the junior committee. So unless someone puts up their hand to take on these positions, while the season may continue to run, the finals will be a shambles.”
But beyond that?
“It won’t get up and running for the next season.”
The association is also in a precarious financial position, with player numbers, especially among girls, dwindling in recent times.
The association has had a long running battle with the South Gippsland Shire Council to have the $2 door fee waived, which it believes is a disincentive for many young players already paying annual playing fees. The requests have been rejected.
While it was suggested that the association should fund raise, Mr Fleming said there were few options open to it, particularly since it did not have its own canteen or, indeed, the people to help out with fundraising activities.
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