Rams May Be Scrapped
Tagged in: In The News, NBL
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Geoff Longley, The Press
The Canterbury Rams national basketball league season could be over before it begins with the team on the verge of being pulled out of the championship due to financial difficulties.
Canterbury Basketball Association president Peter Dwan said last night there was not the funding to sustain the team through the coming season which was scheduled to start on March 1.
After the CBA’s hefty $305,000 loss in the last financial year, Dwan said it would be irresponsible to allow the Rams, which is without a naming rights sponsor, to continue in the league.
The Rams are a foundation member of the NBL, having been there from the outset since 1982, and Dwan said about a $150,000 injection was required to run a proper campaign.
He put a deadline for the survival of the Rams in the league until the end of this week when a final decision had to be made.
“If we cannot get some concrete commitment from some backers I’m afraid we will have to pull the pin. We have been talking to some businesses but that’s all it has been .”
Dwan said with the major financial loss and the resignation mid-season of former chief executive George Kazan those issues had taken precedence for the CBA over working towards the Rams’ new season.
“Usually at that time of the year you would be planning for the new season but we were unable to do that.”
However, Bert Knops, the Rams coach in the late 1990s, had been appointed coach and training sessions have been ongoing with the bulk of the squad from recent seasons.
Two American imports have been lined up, but cannot be confirmed.
The Rams’ existing naming rights sponsor, Scenic Circle Hotels, completed its contract two years ago but agreed to a one-off extension under different circumstances last season, Dwan said.
Dwan, the commercial manager for New Zealand Cricket, said some businesses did not see the outlook for 2008 being that bright and were reluctant to commit.
He said basketball was one of several “second tier” sports in New Zealand that invariably struggled for significant funding.
Dwan said the board had a responsibility to its members to deliver programmes at club, development and school level and had to meet those obligations first.
