With participation numbers up, Rochester basketball is thriving

By Oliver Shedden

Dec 2, 2024

RBA’s senior competition has gotten stronger in recent seasons. Photo by Supplied

The Rochester Basketball Association committee has put the hard work in over the past couple of years to boost participation numbers for its club and now it is seeing the fruits of its labour.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Player numbers for the RBA has ballooned to more than 200 boys, girls, men and women over multiple different competitions.

A key focus for the RBA this year was drawing more girls into the sport and has delivered on its goal of splitting the girls’ competition into junior and intermediate competitions.

With a total of 56 girls — 32 juniors and 24 intermediate players — RBA’s female competition numbers are thriving.

Rochester junior boys play on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Photo: Supplied. Photo by Supplied

“We’ve been able to split our girls’ groups up into junior and intermediate levels with ages ranging from Prep to Year 8, so splitting them up means we have been able to make it a lot more competitive and enjoyable,” RBA committee member Leigh Mundie said.

“It’s a fairer competition now, which has attracted a lot more participants.

“We have built up a lot in the last two years to achieve this figure. We started off this season with a combined girls competition, but we came together and thought no, let’s put in the hard work here and round up some more players so we could split it and make this work.”

RBA also runs a mini hoops competition for younger players. Photo by Supplied

Mundie chalked up the spike in numbers to the influence of schools in the area, the fact it was another way for players to socialise and the support of the RBA committee.

He also highlighted how the sheer number of participants across all competitions had contributed to a strong community feel around the club.

“I think the schools have been a big influence behind drawing more players in, just that great environment at the stadium, the girls are smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves then they are telling their friends at school,” he said.

“We are equivalent to 13 football teams. It’s a huge number of players. It’s difficult to compare us to football and netball, but we have more participants than our local clubs.

“The great thing about the girls’ competition is that they get to split from the boys and play with their friends and meet new people.

“We are pulling players from Lockington to Colbinabbin to Elmore, all the way to Toolleen. It’s been a great community thing to bring the towns together.

The junior competitions are a great social gathering event for family and friends outside of just basketball. Photo by Supplied

“I walked in the stadium the other week and saw 70 parents in there all communicating and talking. It’s not just about watching their children play sport, it’s the social aspect, it’s more than just Rochester.”

RBA president Meagan Keating that at the end of the day, the association just wanted to see its players and families happy and enjoying sport and all the community aspects that came with it.

“What we offer is basketball at the same venue, similar times each week. We can uniform the kids and put them in teams to make competitions that are as even as possible,” she said.

“We want to ensure that all the participants are getting enjoyment week in and week out. There’s nothing better than to see a child walk out of the stadium with a smile on their face regardless of the score.”