YOUNG basketball players are being turned away due to limited facilities, while various levels of government fail to find an accord that allows them to move forward.
In just four years, the RedCity Roar basketball club has skyrocketed from 400 players to almost five times that number.
However, the club has hit a standstill at 1800 players because seven of its community-based clubs lack the court space to accommodate more children.
General manager Peter Pollock said the club currently utilised 16 of the 17 available courts in Redlands as training venues.
“The facilities we have just don’t meet the needs,” Mr Pollock said.
“It would be nice to have one training venue instead of having to be all over the place.”
Mr Pollock noted that while waiting lists varied across age groups, they were particularly lengthy for boys aged 12 to 16.
“We have parents calling one club after another to secure a spot,” he said.
“Parents end up having to drive long distances just to get to a training session.”
In addition to the limited number of available courts, Mr Pollock said another challenge was the competition for space with other indoor sports.
“We created an advocacy group with the other sports including indoor skipping, pickleball, futsal and volleyball,” he said.
“At the end of the day, they are our allies, and they strengthen our voice.”
Outside of the club, Mr Pollock emphasised that an indoor sporting facility would significantly boost the local tourism sector.
“When we met with the other sports, we spoke about the events each sport could bring to Redlands,” he said.
“Out of the six or seven sports we had, they each had two major events they could host if we had a suitable facility.
“When you add that up, that’s two events a month across a year where you are bringing in thousands of people to the area for major events.”
Looking ahead, Mr Pollock said he had spoken with most councillors from both sides of the political fence.
“Everyone recognises the need,” he said. “We just need them to put their hand up at the same time and get the process started.”
State Member for Capalaba Don Brown said he was happy to support funding a new competitive basketball venue in the Redlands.
“If the Redland City Council can advise where they would like a new venue to go, then I would be more than happy to back them,” Mr Brown said.
He said it was disappointing to see that during its meeting last month Council voted against a decision to investigate suitable areas to build a new basketball venue in the Redlands.
Division 2 Councillor Peter Mitchell said he recognised the need for expanded and new sporting facilities and declared the defeated mayoral minute was not a vote against the need for facilities but rather a response to an “unnecessary, poorly drafted motion”.
He added that a new four to six-court indoor facility had a probable price tag of at least $60 million.
“Any interested State and Federal parties need to be accompanied by their fat cheque books to back up the talk for their Redlands constituents,” he said.
Division 7 Councillor Rowanne McKenzie said her personal council no vote was made because of a “poorly framed proposal that was circulated to councillors minutes before the General Meeting was due to begin…”.
