Launceston basketball's plight worsening with games finishing at 11pm

It's a long-standing issue which at its heart is about people missing out on playing basketball, a fast-growing sport in Tasmania.

It has been predicted the association would need an additional 17 courts to cater for demand in the future.

LBA operate out of Elphin Sports Centre but also use education department facilities at colleges, high schools and primary schools to play their games.

They have more than 3500 participants and 630 teams.

Gibson said juniors were playing as late as 10pm on weekdays while some senior games were finishing at 11pm.

"We currently have a waitlist of junior players totaling 235 who are unable to access weekday basketball competitions through our winter season due to a lack of court space to fit this many additional teams," he said.

Gibson said the latest blow had been that the association had lost court space.

"We had a long-standing booking at one of the colleges which we've had for years and we've just been told we've lost a night to volleyball," he said.

"[It] was out of the blue and that's one of our senior nights and that will actually impact what time they finish.

"Potentially we could end up playing until 11.30 at night."

When The Examiner wrote about this issue in June last year, the state government responded by pointing to the tenders for the $27.5 million Northern Suburbs Community Hub in Mowbray due to be built in late 2025.

Gibson said the community hub would help, but wouldn't adequately cater for basketball's demands.

"What we've been told is there are seven courts, four of which have been allocated as the 'home of netball' and will be specifically designed for netball only," he said.

"The court dimensions and the run-offs as well as the baskets over the top of the courts will only be for netball.

"Basketball courts are slightly wider and shorter so they can potentially fit in there if they choose to put them in whilst they're building the venue.

"The problem though is netball have been told it's theirs and they are expecting to get complete unfettered access 24 hours a day all-year round.

"My understanding is they'll actually control and manage those four courts."

Gibson said the other three courts wouldn't to be up to the usual standard for basketball.

"They're a multi-user and what we've been told is they won't be to the same standard, they'll have a concrete floor with a competition rubber overlay which is close but not as ideal - it's not actually full FIBA competition level," he said.

"The backboards that they put in will also be a lower standard than what we currently have at Elphin.

"To top all that off, it's going to be used by every other court sport in Launceston."

The state government previously highlighted other efforts made to improve basketball's plight, including employing three participation growth officers to help support and sustain the sport.

Gibson said the while it was great to see action, Launceston's problem was it couldn't cater for more players.

"So having people encouraging and promoting inclusion in the game and being a basketball participant, it's not actually a lot of use to us because we can't really take any more members than we're already getting," he said.

The yet-to-be-funded NTCA precinct redevelopment is another project that has popped up in the past eight months that seemingly would benefit basketball.

The NTCA grounds are within a few hundred metres of Elphin Sports Centre, which has been included in the master plan.

Gibson said it looked like Elphin would get three new courts, but it was long down the list of priorities in the redevelopment.

"You're talking anything up to 10 years before we see those courts ... what we need is for that to be the priority, not the afterthought," he said.

Gibson highlighted another measure that had been brought in to try and alleviate the problem.

He said the education department had employed community liaison officers in an attempt to unlock what is perceived as additional space at schools.

"Unfortunately it hasn't really achieved the goal because they are still managed by the individual school business managers," he said.

"And depending on what they prioritise is what gets court space."