SA Premier League basketball club Mount Gambier Pioneers prevented from joining NZ NBL
For the second time in eight months, Mount Gambier Pioneers have tried to move to a bigger basketball competition – and twice they’ve been denied. And the club isn’t happy about it.
- Mount Gambier to foot majority of $40,000 bill to play in Adelaide
- Pioneers to play in SA Premier League in 2019
Basketball Australia has stopped Mount Gambier Pioneers from joining New Zealand’s national league.
The New Zealand National Basketball League announced Friday the Pioneers’ bid to come across from Adelaide’s premier competition had been successful but was blocked by the sport’s Australian governing body.
Mount Gambier president Tom Kosch said the club was denied the move due to an agreement between Basketball Australia and the Australian NBL regarding multiple clubs joining interstate and international competitions.
Tasmanian team Southern Huskies have already been accepted into the league, signing a five-year agreement in December, which Basketball Australia approved.
Kosch said his club was very disappointed with its move being blocked.
“It’s an extremely frustrating decision in what has been a very difficult period for the club,” Kosch said.
“The NZ NBL gave us an immediate option to continue to provide a pathway for South Australians to play high level basketball but now we have to go back to the drawing board.
“The opportunity ... was an exciting one, and one that would have provided some hope for a sustainable future and restored high-level competition in Mount Gambier.”
In November, the Pioneers were left without a competition to play in after the South East Australian Basketball League disbanded and was replaced by NBL1.
Mount Gambier was then denied a spot in the Victorian-based NBL1 but accepted into SA’s Premier League for 2019.
The Pioneers sit on top of the men’s ladder with a 15-3 record, while their women are third with a 12-5 ratio.
Kosch said Mount Gambier said NBL1 was now the club’s most viable option.
He expected Basketball Victoria would invite the club to apply to the second-tier national competition but said there was no guarantee NBL1 would add new teams for 2020.
NZ NBL general manager Justin Nelson also expressed his disappointment.
“We have been in communication with the Pioneers ever since they were shut-out of the predominantly Victorian-based NBL1 competition,” Nelson said.
“We strongly believe it is good for basketball in the region to have both the Huskies and Pioneers playing in the NZ NBL.
“For some reason, perhaps we are seen as a threat, which while bizarre is quite flattering.”
A Basketball Australia spokesman the body was working the Pioneers to find the most appropriate league for the club.
“The NBL is recognised as the sole elite men’s professional league in Australia and there are regulations that govern what other leagues can play games in any more than one state or territory,” he said.
“As such, Basketball Australia cannot provide clearance for the Mount Gambier Pioneers to play in the NZ NBL.”
patrick.keam@news.com.au