Basketball: Added resources to aid community

An increase in funding for basketball in New Zealand is aligned to a strategy to grow the number of Kiwis involved in community sport.

Sport New Zealand on Friday announced their $43m community sport investment decisions, with Basketball New Zealand allocated $2.36m, to be paid in annual instalments of $590,000 from 2016.

That number was an increase from $450,000 in 2015 and Basketball NZ chief executive Iain Potter said the decision to increase support for basketball was welcomed.

"Sport NZ noted that basketball continues to grow in popularity and has an appeal across all parts of our community," Potter said. "We are thrilled with the increased support because it will help meet the demand to develop more basketball opportunities for all ages and stages.

"The community investment will help Basketball New Zealand improve the provision of quality participation experiences in partnership with our Associations. This work includes programmes for young people such as Kiwi Hoops within primary schools, coach and referee development, fostering volunteer support, reducing barriers to participation, and investing in events like the increasingly popular 3X3 format of the game.

"The Sport NZ Young People's Survey found basketball to be the number one 'mucking around' activity for young people. We believe the high informal participation rate is encouraging more participants into more formal settings with associations or schools. For example, basketball is now the fourth largest secondary school sport with four years of consistent growth."

The Sport NZ community sport investment was made after a contestable process. Basketball NZ's application detailed a range of initiatives designed to strengthen the community basketball system and to provide more quality participation experiences.