A STRANGE thing happened at my house on Wednesday night.
As my son and I flicked through the Kayo Sports channel, as we do, my nine year-old daughter jumped up and said “the Bendigo Spirit are on”.
And so they were. The Bendigo Spirit women’s National Basketball League team had a Wednesday night game against the Flames from Sydney.
So, at my daughter’s request, we turned it on. And my whole family watched.
Now this is a rare thing in my place where my son and I tend to be the sports watchers, typically of male sports, and the girls couldn’t care less.
But we watched this brilliant WNBL game and my daughter, who is part of the Mildura Heat under 12 squad, cheered on the Spirit players.
She cheered on Anneli Maley, last year’s WNBL MVP, and Alex Wilson, who has won multiple WNBL championships, and Kelly Wilson, who has played more than 400 WNBL games.
The Heat under 12 girls got to watch these Bendigo Spirit stars play live in Mildura on Saturday night, but they also had the chance to play in a half-time game in front of a Mildura home crowd..
It was a brilliant experience for these kids, who had smiles from ear to ear the whole night.
My daughter got autographs and had photos with all those inspiring players after the game. She suddenly had heroes, female heroes, to aspire to be.
And therein lies the importance of Mildura attracting top-level sports to this region.
Inspiring country kids, especially girls, is worth every cent.
While the moaners in this community will talk of the costs of luring these sorts of events to Mildura, I see it very differently.
We need to inspire and drive our next generation any way we can.
We also need to give those who can’t afford the weekend trips to Melbourne or Adelaide a glimpse of what high level sport is. And humanise their heroes.
Mildura Rural City Council, the WNBL and the Bendigo Spirit deserve great credit for making this national sporting event happen for our community, especially for our kids.
But here is my one beef.
The cost for families to attend the WNBL game last Saturday night was way, way too high.
Adult tickets were $26.50 and kids under 18 were $16.50. Compare that to an average WNBL ticket of $15 an adult and $5 under 18, and around $30 per family, and it stinks.
While there are obviously costs involved in getting an event to a place like Mildura, we can’t expect local families to wear the bulk of that, and it is why Spirit players were at the Mildura Sporting Precinct the night before, handing out free tickets to kids.
The WNBL and Bendigo Spirt need to play a big part in subsidising costs, as do council, because the benefits extend beyond the night itself.
Take the merchandise. By the end of Saturday night, the Mildura Sporting Precinct was full of kids in Bendigo Spirit apparel. The Spirit merchandise store had sold out of items for kids.
I know this because when I went to buy a singlet for my daughter, I was directed to their website because they were “blown away” by the sales.
I have since ordered a Spirit singlet for my daughter, who also wants now to go to Bendigo one night to see them play again.
So forget about covering costs with ticket sales, think about your growing audience. Your growing fan base.
That is a win-win for Bendigo Spirit and the WNBL.
My daughter now knows the players and the WNBL brand. She is searching Kayo for their next game.
The WNBL is a wonderful, inspiring product that deserves way more mainstream media attention in this country. It is a much higher standard than the AFLW but receives none of its exposure.
But it inspired our kids on Saturday night.
And in a town like Mildura that has so many socio-economic disadvantages, that is priceless.
We can’t wait to have the Spirit back. We promise them it is worth it.
