BASKETBALL
NBL
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
SOUTH East Melbourne Phoenix will return to the Gippsland Regional Sports Stadium (GRISS) for their fourth NBL-Latrobe Valley instalment next year (January 11) for a matchup against the Brisbane Bullets.
In anticipation of the soon-to-be sold-out headliner, club officials and players were on hand at GRISS for a school basketball clinic for Kosciuszko Street Primary School students last week.
Second-year guard Ben Ayre was one of many Phoenix players travelling down from the city to run the students through some drills, saying how exciting it was for him to be back in the region for which he holds some strong roots.
“For me specifically, my parents grew up in Morwell and I’ve got family out in Gippsland also out this way, so it means a lot to me personally to be out here and connecting with the kids, it’s very cool,” he told the Express.
“I had my nan down here (at GRISS) last year, stuff like that it’s nice to see her at games, last year she came to the game last year as well as my aunty and uncle.
“It’s nice for them to be able to access a game and access the players and see a high level of sport played down here in this area.”
Ayre’s three older siblings were born in the Latrobe Valley.
He’s been in the same shoes as those students that were looking up to him, understanding the spectacular perceptive and feeling it presents to see professional athletes around their area.
“It’s just (about) accessibility for kids down here, they either have to drive all the way to watch a game or if we’re able to come out here I think it just brings so much more value,” Ayre said.
“You never know what it does to one kid who loves basketball so much, their passion might stem from watching South East coming and playing one game, who knows where that could take that kid.
“Just always knowing that someone’s watching, there’s kids watching and I think it’s really important to be down here.”
In September, Latrobe City Council and South East Melbourne Phoenix announced they would be continuing their partnership to deliver another two regular season NBL games in the Latrobe Valley across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
Supporters have come out in bunches, with all of the previous three games held in Traralgon at the revamped sports stadium selling out, with the same expectation to fill the 3000-seat show court next year.
Latrobe City Council has invested $25,000 ahead of the game from its major events attraction budget.
The game is estimated to generate an economic impact of $650,000 for the region.
South East Melbourne Phoenix Chief Executive, Tommy Greer was also on deck at GRISS, describing how the club’s anticipation is brewing just as much as local fans await their next opportunity to see the green and black.
“How good is this? It’s so fantastic for us as a club, the South East Melbourne Phoenix to be back here in regional Victoria at GRISS… we love coming out here and getting involved in the community and the reason for that is because of the support we get from the community, we get from (Latrobe City) council, we get from the Victorian state government to come out her and bring our product to regional Victoria,” he said.
Phoenix have adopted Gippsland and Latrobe Valley as their own since they were founded in 2018.
“Since the beginning of this franchise, getting out into the regions has been a really big part of the club’s DNA, we were able to play a preseason game in Wangaratta this year and so to be able to bring a regular season game here to GRISS and the Latrobe City Council is another win for the club,” Greer said.
“I’m a county kid at heart, I grew up in the country, plenty of players are country Victorian athletes, Nathan Sobey (as one) coming from Warrnambool.
“I know first-hand how important it is to bring professional sport out to the regions and expose the kids, the next generation, to that professional product.
Greer highlighted the alternate avenues one can take to make it in the big leagues, even if you’re from down here in little ol’ Latrobe Valley.
“I don’t want to call it convoluted, but there are a lot of different pathways athletes can take in this sport,” he said.
“You’ve got the American college system, you’ve got the development players within the NBL, you’ve got the NBL1 pathway, state teams, AIS (Australian Institute of Sport), CoE (Centre of Excellence), there’s a myriad of different ways you can take which I think is a fantastic thing because it gives more athletes the opportunity to be seen and to be able to take that next step.
“The short answer is, if they’re really good at basketball, come to the Phoenix.”
The three previous times the Phoenix have arrived to play in Traralgon has seen them fall on a December date, typically a short time before Christmas, however, that has now been pushed forward at the doing of the league itself.
“We think that the January 11 fixture is really good timing for Latrobe City and Latrobe City Council and the people around here,” Greer said.
“It’s a time where kids are on school holidays so, we are hoping we get all those families (in) to give them something to do on January 11.”
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos was also in Traralgon for the announcement, and was enthralled by the frenzy the Kosciuszko Street students were sent into, which affirmed the reasoning for the state government’s continued backing of the alliance that brings the NBL to the area.
“This is what it’s all about, I love this, to be able to hear the excitement and joy,” he said.
“We are very proud that we call ourselves the sports capital of the country. I call it the sports capital of the world, but you can’t be a sports capital if all you do is focus on the city (and) we are definitely not just focussed on the city, we focus right through regional and rural Victoria.
“Those young people get to access the players they love and idolise right here on home ground, be trained by them, that is such a rare opportunity, it’s an extraordinary opportunity.
“It incentives those young people to then want to be achieving the aspirations of elite athletes or even if they just want to have fun, that’s the purpose of the partnership between the Victorian government, Latrobe City Council… and the Phoenix and the NBL.
When prompted on the idea of building off of these recent successes with the possibility of delivering an even larger sports stadium to the region, the minister didn’t shut it down entirely.
“I would never say no. Most assets, sporting assets across regional Victoria are run and owned by the councils, but we’ve partnered with the councils significantly including through embellishing this extraordinary asset (GRISS),” he said.
“So while we are not doing the Commonwealth Games, we are still investing into the community infrastructure that we’re committed to including housing and sporting infrastructure.
“Not that I’m asking council to make a decision, but I’d be always open to opportunities to do things in Gippsland and Latrobe Valley when it comes to sport, it doesn’t have to be a stadium but if that’s an opportunity then I’m prepared to look at that too.”
Tickets are now on sale for the match between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Brisbane Bullets at GRISS via Ticketek.
