Tara Murray
It will be a historic moment for Keilor Thunder on Saturday night as they step onto the court for the first time in the National Basketball League 1 South competition.
Having been awarded one of the two new contracts to move into the state’s top competition, the Thunder has been putting in a lot of hard work behind the scenes.
General manager Paul Rovis said they were hoping to get a big crowd to the opening round matches and throughout the season.
He said making the move into the competition wasn’t just about the basketball association, but providing for the whole community.
Many local businesses have come on board to sponsor the association, while local dance and gymnastic groups hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic will provide the half time entertainment throughout the season.
For the Thunder it’s the second time they’ve been in the state’s top competition. They were in the old South East Australia Basketball League between 1991 and 1996.
Men’s coach Liam Glascott previously said many of the players who were involved in those teams were still involved in the club now.
“We still have the photos of the olden days in the early 90s,” he said. “There’s guys I know who are around the club and coaching now who always point them out.”
On court, the club has put together what they believe will be strong competitive teams.
Glascott and women’s coach Tom Bandilovski both said getting locals back to the club was one of their main focuses heading into the season.
“Getting those guys through and showing the pathway to our juniors youth league kids is super exciting, we’ve added some kids through our development players,” said Glascott.
Bandilovski added, “the main aim of what we really wanted to do was recruit local players to come to our club.
“We targeted all these players and I think we’ve done really well with our recruiting, not just for the club, but the community and the program as well.
“We’re very happy with that and we can hope they will stay at the club for a while.”
For more on how both sides are shaping up, head to page 22.
