Basketball: No quick fix to funding shortfall

PAUL TRASS: It's time to bite the bullet and increase the subscriptions for rep teams. PHOTO/FILE

Former Basketball Hawke's Bay general manager Paul Trass says the velodrome got in the way of the code's growth.

"The indoor codes have been held back and they have nowhere to go," says Trass after Basketball HB finds itself in the financial doldrums.

The retired administrator, who was at the helm for eight years, says in 2014 the non-profit organisation had a turnover of $650,000 and was $10,000 in surplus.

"If it was not for gaming funds there'd be no profits at all," he says, adding 45 per cent of the people who play basketball are from the lower socio-economic sectors of the community.

During Trass' reign, "we never failed to pay the bills".

"There were times when I had restless nights worrying about things but they'll just have to bite the bullet and put up the subs for rep teams ," he says of bailing out Basketball HB.

The other thing he did during his tenure was use outdoor facilities to minimise costs although there wasn't much difference in coming up with close to $100,000 to pay for court hire.

If the Bay adds floor space, he believes, futsal and volleyball will use it but a Sport New Zealand report shows the province needs six more basketball courts.

The ICC World Cup last summer, occupying the Rodney Green Centennial Hall in Napier, had deprived the code of $20,000 to $50,000 in income.

"We went outdoors but only half the number of people were playing," he says, adding Basketball HB's expenditure on hosting an under-13 tournament and paying for a trip to Rotorua didn't help its cause.

He says the way the organisation's system is set up doesn't allow for it to approach a bank to help with cashflow.