RedCity Roar share insight into how the revamped club made their way to the NBL1

Starting from scratch 18 months ago, the RedCity Roar have risen to now competing in Australia’s premier winter competition. SEE HOW THEY DID IT

Their bank was empty, their membership base sat at just more than 400 and they had the tough task of battling against some of Queensland’s powerhouse clubs.

RedCity Roar president Jason Fiddes, new general manager Peter Pollock and their foundation committee had almost nothing to build on as they started the revamped and rejuvenated club 18 months ago.

It was then the Roar applied to form a new representative basketball club after the association, formerly known as Redlands PCYC, had struggled to rise to any sort of heights for decades.

RedCity Roar GM Peter Pollock with president Jason Fiddes when they started the club in 2019. Picture: AAP Image – Richard Waugh

But now RedCity, who are quickly becoming one of the fastest growing clubs in the state, have reached new heights after Basketball Queensland announced the Roar would compete in the inaugural NBL1 North competition – Australia’s premier winter league.

RedCity’s addition to NBL1 North means a Redlands-based club will feature in the top-tier senior competition for the first time.

The club also boasts one of the top venues in the Queensland competition, playing out of Cleveland State High School’s state-of-the-art Paul Bancroft Centre.

Darryl McDowell-White has re-signed with the Roar for the upcoming NBL1 season. Picture: B.Rad Sports Photography

“If anyone had asked the foundation committee of RedCity 18 months ago if basketball in Redlands would have tripled it membership and was entering Australia’s premier winter basketball competition, they probably would have been laughed at,” Pollock said.

“Although that was the plan when the executive committee including Jason Fiddes, Craig Oldfield and Aaron White Sec along with management committee members Ian Hibberd, Kathy McKillop and Chris Ekin, none, expected it to happen this quickly.”

“From the first meeting and zero bank account balance a mission was drafted to ‘grow the game and build a pathway from beginners to semi-professional level’ and a strategic plan was launched to realise the mission.”

WNBL veteran and former Australian Opal Lauren Mansfield playing for RedCity in the QSL last year. Picture: Fan Fair

Despite the Redlands past struggles to be a strong club in representative competitions, Fiddes said he always knew the potential was there.

“The Redlands has actually never had a problem with interest in the sport or producing talent, it’s just that these talents have usually moved on to other clubs for their development,” he said.

“As someone who’s from the area, we’ve had players from the Redlands go on to represent Queensland and Australia, so the potential has always been there.”

But it took some investment in some key areas from officials at the Roar, including Pollock, who had previously been involved in start-up clubs such as Logan and South West Metro.

“It was clear we needed to establish a club structure based around available venues in Redlands, a participation program in the school community and a capstone for the pathway -an NBL1 program,” he said.

Fiddes also said being able to compete in the Queensland State League last year, with star players such as William McDowell-White, Darryl McDowell-White and Harry Froling leading the men’s team to a grand finals appearance as well as WNBL stars such as Lauren Mansfield and Ashleigh Karaitiana carrying the Roar to a playoffs spot, allowed the club to push for an NBL1 spot.

Brisbane Bullets big man Harry Froling in action for RedCity last year. Picture: Fan Fair

“That’s where there was probably a bit of a silver lining through COVID for us, that we were able to see what we could do in the QSL and get some quality players playing for us to set the foundation for us to now be in the NBL1,” he said.

The Roar now have all three programs in place and now sit with a membership base of more than 1000 with the focus now shifting to recruiting for NBL1 to ensure their inaugural season in the top-tier is a successful one.

“We haven’t finished our recruitment drive so I can’t say exactly what the goal would be for this year, although I would love to be at the top half of the competition,” Fiddes said.

Fiddes also said the club’s rise from the doldrums to the NBL1 would not have been possible without the efforts of so many volunteers, including the committee members, key people such as Jo Doyle and also the players and coaches representing the club.

RedCity tip-off their NBL1 campaign against the Logan Thunder on May 15.