Aratana Te Kahu, from Maraenui School Bi-Lingual School, tries the new courts out for size during Sunday's opening day. Photo / Paul Taylor
Aratana Te Kahu, from Maraenui School Bi-Lingual School, tries the new courts out for size during Sunday's opening day. Photo / Paul Taylor
The growth of basketball in Hawke's Bay and declining lawn bowls players has seen former greens replaced by sealed courts.
The outdoor court at Basketball Hawke's Bay's Downer Community Basketball Centre on the former Wairere Bowling Club site off the Nuffield Ave end of Whitmore Park, was officially opened onSunday afternoon by Napier mayor Kirsten Wise.
Amid falling numbers across the sport of lawn bowls, the Wairere club, on leased Napier City Council reserve and which had been around for a century, was sold to Basketball HB in 2013.
While dwindling numbers led to membership of four clubs coming together under the now-single entity of Bowls Napier, the need for more space for basketball was evident at the time of purchase when about 700 teams were playing in Hawke's Bay, involving about 3500 players.
It hasn't slowed. There were 4226 juniors in 2017, growing by 29 per cent to 5464 in 2018, and a further 23 per cent to 6747 last year, while teams in adult grades have leapt from 36 to 67 over the same period.
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, the numbers are likely to be up again, and space is at a premium, new Basketball HB general manager Nick Hogan saying that for secondary schools league matches 11 venues are in use.
Basketball Hawke's Bay general manager Nick Hogan at the Downer Community Basketball Centre after starting his new job last month. Photo / File
"Essentially we are at capacity in regards to space," he says. "Our miniball has now grown to a point where we are having to frequently look at out-of-the-box locations to get it all played on the same night."
"We are still finalising 2020 figures, but early signs show another positive growth year in the junior space," he says."
So far two courts have been laid on at the new facility, both of them being awash with the drought-breaking rain when the opening was originally scheduled to take place on June 30.
Basketball HB stalwart Chris McIvor, who led the project and who was acting manager preceding Hogan's recent appointment, pays tribute to the "community-minded leaders" who formed the Wairere Trust in 2013 to give basketball a home with a vision to building a community facility.
"The growth of the game has meant resources have gone into the game regionally and slowed the project, however it is a privilege to now present some courts to the community," he says. "This is just the start to what could be a multi-use centre for the community".
The courts will be used for basketball programmes and also to be available to the public, who would be encouraged to "come down to shoot hoops, relax on the green space or enjoy the wide open spaces in Whitmore Park".
Opening day included presentations of gear to the Hawks development squad, which Basketball HB chairman Keith Price said showed the budding players the pathway to where they could "end-up" as elite players and professionals.
Recognition of others extended to farewell from board roles of stalwarts Di Robertson and Terry Simkin, but despite the array of talent on-hand, the honour of shooting the first hoop went to the mayor.
The city council was among the contributors to the project, along with construction group Downer, the Basketball HB Wairere Trust, the Eastern and Central Community Trust, the Lottery Grants Board, John Holt Memorial Trust and Harcourts Foundation.
Wise said : "I am thrilled that we have been able to support Basketball Hawke's Bay with these two basketball courts."
