BACK in February, Mildura Council passed up a chance to stage a National Basketball League match at its shiny new multimillion-dollar stadium.
The council had been in discussions with the New Zealand Breakers, who had been rendered virtually homeless for two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, about the potential of hosting a weekend double-header.
But they had to say no.
While there were financial reasons for the decision, the reality was that the indoor stadium at the $45 million-plus sporting precinct was not fit for purpose.
It simply could not, and still can’t, cater for enough spectators.
The design of the indoor stadium at the new precinct was flawed from the beginning.
The jaw-dropping mistake to not have a grandstand and marquee showcourt to attract major sporting events continues to prevent the MSP being what it was intended to be.
Almost nine months on, the situation hasn’t really changed.
While the council is trying to come up with a solution, just how how the venue can cater for a large crowd, plus corporate sponsors, is no closer to a resolution.
As a result, Mildura Heat will again not play at the venue in the Big V League in 2023.
What an absolute shame.
Instead, the Heat men’s and women’s basketball teams will remain at the 54-year-old Hothouse stadium in Eighth Street, which has been badly in need of repairs for years.
When it rained last week, the roof leaked.
But, even in its current state, the Hothouse remains the preferred option for Mildura’s highest-profile sporting club.
I wrote in this column a few weeks ago about how great the new MSP had been for the game of basketball at a grassroots level.
As a community venue, it has proven a massive success.
The Mildura Basketball Association summer season tipped off this month with a record 291 teams.
To put that number into context, that is 80 more teams than the winter season and equates to almost 2000 players hitting the courts each week.
On any measure, it suggests the sport is booming. And those numbers are being mirrored across the state.
But where Mildura’s new stadium falls down in comparison to other regional centres is simply in its capacity to host a crowd.
Did the MSP designers think that venues such as Bendigo, Traralgon, Pakenham or Ballarat had it all wrong? Did they think it was architecturally more interesting to build a stadium without enough seating? It still baffles me.
Admittedly, the council faces a tough task in now fixing the flawed design.
But the responsibility does lie with the council for ticking it off in the first place.
And that solution should not only include talking to the local basketball association about its needs, but also the NBL and WNBL about what it requires to host matches.
Our new precinct just hosted a magnificent SFNL grand final, as well as an AFLW match last week.
It’s a venue we should all be immensely proud of.
But so much still depends on the council getting the indoor stadium right.
Rolling in a couple of uncomfortable aluminium bench seats on match days doesn’t cut it. We need to do better than that.
As I wrote in February, the next time an organisation like the NBL comes knocking, we want Mildura to say yes.
That we still can’t cater for a few hundred Heat fans and sponsors suggests we have a way to go.
