‘Essential’: Geelong mayor calls for regional basketball and netball stadium to cater for growth

Geelong’s mayor has called for a regional indoor sports and events centre to cater for surging numbers of netballers and basketballers.

City of Greater Geelong Trent Sullivan says the council will continue to advocate for a regional indoor sports and events centre. Picture: Alan Barber

Geelong mayor’s is calling for a new basketball and netball stadium after funds for an aquatic centre in Armstrong Creek were reallocated to a Torquay facility.

Trent Sullivan said the government’s decision to fund stage two of the Surf Coast Health and Aquatic Centre was a sensible use of taxpayers’ money because a new Armstrong Creek swimming centre was not a priority.

“The city is committed to commonsense planning decisions for the region and building a new swimming facility at Armstrong Creek when the big Torquay facility was already approved did not pass that commonsense test,” he said.

“What does make complete sense is building the regional basketball and netball stadium to help the region cater for the ongoing growth of both sports.

“As the second largest city in Victoria and Australia’s premier regional city, there is an essential piece of community infrastructure that is required to support the growth and development of high-level competition and elite-level sport, as well as attract major sporting events and teams to the region.”

In the 2024-25 federal budget, $6m was slated for an Armstrong Creek indoor sports stadium for netball, basketball, volleyball and badminton, however Mr Sullivan said at the time it would be a local venue, not a regional stadium.

An indoor sporting complex at Waurn Ponds is also slated under the $250m investment for sporting infrastructure from the state government after it abandoned its 2026 Commonwealth Games bid in July last year.

It would feature six multi-sport courts, however it is understood it would not have capacity for 5000 spectators.

Geelong Netball Club president Darren Hellmann said the netball and basketball populations in the Geelong region were significant, and growing.

More than 10,000 netballers and 8500 basketballers were registered in Geelong this year.

Mr Hellmann said both sports were “screaming” for facilities to meet current needs and future proof the sports.

“This has been discussed possibly for the last 35 years and it’s time for something to be done,” he said.

“Do it once and do it right so it is future-proofed and able to cater for elite level sport for the next 20 years.”

Mr Hellmann said a facility was needed to cater for Geelong United Basketball, which plays in state and national competitions, and Geelong Cougars Netball in the Victorian Netball League.

He said if Geelong was also looking to put forward a Suncorp Super Netball team, it would also need a facility, like a regional sports stadium.

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence said the state government supported communities with high-quality, accessible community sport infrastructure, investing more than $2.3bn since 2014 to develop or upgrade facilities.

“We understand there is a large basketball and netball community in Geelong, which is why we have invested heavily in sport facilities in the region so that people can play the sports they love close to home,” she said.

“As part of the Allan Labor Government’s Regional Sports Infrastructure Program there are 16 sporting infrastructure projects across the state, with five projects across Geelong and the Surf Coast – including facilities for netball and basketball at Armstrong Creek and Waurn Ponds.”

Originally published as ‘Essential’: Geelong mayor calls for regional basketball and netball stadium to cater for growth