Basketball New Zealand

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Basketball New Zealand will have to tighten its belt after a severe cut from sports funding agency SPARC.

After a year in which the Christchurch Sirens broke into the Australian WNBL and the Tall Ferns achieved their first ever victory over trans Tasman rivals Australia en route to the Beijing Olympcs, the international programme took a hit today when SPARC allocated no money towards women’s basketball in its 2009 budget.

“We’re disappointed,” admitted BBNZ chief executive Dale Stephens. “SPARC have funded women’s basketball for a number of consecutive years and this is very much an up-and-coming team.

“To suddenly receive no funding is a huge shock and potentially puts this year’s investment at risk.”

The Ferns programme suffered a double blow during the Olympics, failing to qualify for the quarterfinals and then losing a race to retain its spot in the Australian league for 2009/10.

Bad things, they say, come in threes.

One factor in the loss of funding would have been the uncertainty surrounding New Zealand’s participation in the 2010 FIBA World Championships for Women in the Czech Republic. To qualify, the Ferns must defeat reigning world champions Australia for the sole Oceania berth available.

Another factor would have been the absence of a formal women’s national league, a fundamental building block in any development programme.

“Women’s basketball is a work in progress for us,” acknowledged Stephens. “We know there are challenges ahead, but this is the biggest one yet.

“Ironically, tomorrow, we have a key strategy meeting specifically targeting women’s basketball. This is obviously not the best way to start that discussion off.”

By contrast, the Tall Blacks are virtually assured of qualifying for the 2010 FIBA World Championships for Men in one of two berths available to the Oceania zone. In the midst of a rebuilding phase, the men have received $300,000 towards that campaign.