Northland Basketball general manager Josh Port has had enough of poor behaviour on and off the court in local basketball leagues. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Northland Basketball general manager Josh Port has had enough of poor behaviour on and off the court in local basketball leagues. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Northland Basketball's head is pledging to clean up the game where abuse towards players and officials is a common occurrence.
With the local winter leagues set to start in late April, Northland Basketball general manager Josh Port is hoping to continue work to rid the game of abuse towards playersand officials.
With help from the Northland Sports Coalition (a cross-code group established to promote the ongoing development of Northland sport), Northland Basketball introduced 'Good Sports' principles in early 2019, which outlined how to address poor behaviour from players and spectators.
Sideline behaviour has been a big issue across codes in Northland. Photo / File
As a result, one high school player and two senior players were sanctioned due to poor on-court behaviour and barred from taking part in the rest of the 2019 season. All three players are allowed back in 2020 but will be barred indefinitely should another incident occur.
Port said after the Northland Basketball board came down hard on incidents of poor behaviour, players realised it would no longer be tolerated.
"Through the process of doing that, other people started to click on to the fact that abusing referees, talking back to referees and swearing from the sideline is not okay."
A major casualty from such behaviour had been referee numbers. Of the 13 qualified referees operating in Northland in 2017, only six remained the following year.
"There was a very common occurrence that [referees] got abused, sworn at and belittled so they would often come off the court feeling quite disrespected," Port said.
Port hoped the new approach would create a positive atmosphere for the youth coming through. Photo / File
"One of the common things I heard from officials was, 'Why the hell are we doing this'."
Port said these issues had persisted in basketball in Northland for many years and accepted the 'Good Sports' principles could have been implemented earlier.
Despite its necessity, Port said he did not enjoy sanctioning players.
"I would have loved if everyone had picked it up and understood that things need to change, but I think it's human nature to think, 'I'm going to push the boundaries until I see what the repercussions really are', so seeing those repercussions set the line for everyone.
"It was probably a necessary evil but I would have 100 per cent preferred not to have to do it."
While he believes the sport's new principles will reduce the number of incidents, Port accepts there will be some who will still push the line.
"There will still be the odd one or two that come through that don't quite get it, but the hope with us implementing it is that for the vast majority, they will ask, 'How can I be encouraging, how can I be positive?'."
Coach Manuera Riwai has been one of many key figures in the proliferation of basketball in Northland. Photo / File
Basketball numbers in Northland almost doubled from 2017 to 2019 from 4670 players to 8340. With new competitions set to start this year in Dargaville, Mangawhai, Kaikohe and the Far North, Port said players need to understand how integral referees are to ensure the game continues to flourish.
"We want people to see without [referees], our sport doesn't work. We need to keep them engaged because if we don't, our sport is going to die really fast."
Today's age-group fixtures at ASB Stadium:
11.20am: Northland Taniwhas development v Rodney 12.40pm: Northland A under-15 boys v Coast 2pm: Northland A under-17 boys v Waitakere 2pm: Northland B v Auckland
