Use it or lose it Southland... You're warned
A significant boost in crowd numbers will be needed to help Invercargill retain Basketball New Zealand's national 3x3 Cup event in future years.
In 2010 FIBA - world basketball’s governing body - pretty well legitimised the three-on-three form of basketball.
They showcased the down-sized version of the sport as part of the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. Tournaments throughout the world have since popped up at an ever-growing rate.
In 2020 3x3 was included at the Olympic Games.
Games are played on half courts with three players per team, rather than five per team in traditional basketball.
Smaller balls are used in what are much shorter games than traditional basketball.
In recent years Basketball New Zealand has attempted to capitalise on the growth of the 3x3 game, both at a community and high-performance level.
Invercargill’s ILT Stadium Southland has also viewed it as a key opportunity - an opportunity to create a destination event for the city.
Invercargill played host to the first-ever NBL three-on-three tournament in November 2020.
That was the first year of a three-year hosting deal with Basketball New Zealand. It’s a deal aided by the support of Southland funders.
The 3x3 Cup never went ahead in 2021 because of Covid-19 before returning to ILT Stadium Southland in 2022.
This week marks the third year of that three-year deal in Invercargill. The 2023 3x3 Cup event will start on Wednesday at ILT Stadium Southland and will run through to Saturday.
As a venue, ILT Stadium Southland has received rave reviews over the first two years of the 3x3 Cup.
That’s not the problem.
The issue is very few people have shown up to watch.
There is no other way to put it, the crowd numbers in 2020 and 2022, for what was expected to be such a popular event, have been below par.
There was an expectation that the event would attract many from throughout the country, as well as plenty from Southland, to soak up what had been labelled “New Zealand’s biggest party”.
That hasn’t happened and this week proves to be an important moment for the event - in Invercargill anyway.
Southlanders have a decision to make. Get along and support it or risk losing it.
For the past 13 years, Southlanders have embraced top-level basketball through the emergence of the Southland Sharks in the National Basketball League.
For whatever reason Southland has been slower to embrace the 3x3 Cup which features many of the same players in a really unique format.
The 3×3 Cup will run from Wednesday to Saturday, with 28 teams (14 men’s and 10 women’s competing.
This year an international element has been added to the already smorgasbord of basketball over the four-day period.
The New Zealand and Australia men’s and women’s teams will play for the Trans-Tasman Cup.
All up 182 games will be played over four days, with all games also being broadcast live on Sky Sport.
Southland will be represented by the Sharks in the men’s competition and the Storm in the women’s.
Alonzo Burton and Tom Cowie return from last year’s title-winning team and have been joined by Ben Hall and Ethan Rusbatch.
The Southland Storm women’s team includes former Silver Fern Aliyah Dunn, Jennifer O’Connell, Lucy Brown, and Laura Jackson.
There is one pool of the 10 women’s teams and one pool of the 14 men’s teams who will play round-robin games for the first three days. All 10 women’s teams will advance to the playoffs and only 10 of the 14 men’s teams will advance to their playoffs. Playoffs will play down to 9th place.
Will we be seeing you there?
It’s the same old issue down here. We want the big events and concerts but don’t want to pay for it
I think that sometimes we are spoilt by the amazing events that we have delivered in Invercargill and so when you throw in a cost of living crisis people may have to choose what events that can attend. It maybe that there is just not enough money out there to be able to afford to by tickets and support events. But lets hope we don't lose it!