Basketball Victoria is proud to announce the formation of Gippsland United Basketball, set to participate in senior and junior representative leagues from 2021/2022.
Gippsland United Basketball celebrated its launch on Monday morning at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium, Traralgon. In attendance were special guests Latrobe City Council Mayor Sharon Gibson, LVA Director Andrew Waller, Senior Representative Commission Chair Tim Mottin, BV General Manager – Member and Community Services David Huxtable as well as Gippsland United Board of Management members Dan Scholtes and Brad Charles out to support the newest elite team in regional Victoria.
Gippsland United – a joint project between Traralgon Amateur Basketball Association and the Combined Gippsland Basketball Association (also known as Latrobe City Energy) – has been proudly supported by the Latrobe Valley Authority and Sport and Recreation Victoria to ensure players had an elite pathway within the Gippsland region of Victoria.
Basketball Victoria has fully supported the Gippsland Basketball Elite Pathway and Participation Project and the review leading to the creation of Gippsland United led by Michelle Harris from GippSport in 2020.
With tremendous support from the Gippsland-based basketball associations, Gippsland United will replace Latrobe City Energy as the identified pathway program for Gippsland players in VJBL/BIG V competitions from 2022.
Basketball Victoria General Manager – Member and Community Services David Huxtable said the launch of Gippsland United will have a profound effect on the regional basketball pathway in Gippsland.
“What we want for Gippsland is an opportunity that every other area of Regional Victoria has,” Huxtable said. “We came into this project seeking a consistent pathway for Gippsland’s most talented basketball athletes.
“Gippsland has been an amazing area for basketball talent from current Australian Opals Jaz Shelley and Jade Melbourne to Melbourne United championship player Jack White and coach Dean Vickerman.
“Gippsland United will create incredible junior and senior opportunities for male and female athletes, coaches and officials to compete in the highest possible divisions of the junior and senior elite competitions.
“What we want is a sustainable pathway, both financially and operationally, within Gippsland and we believe Gippsland United will give that certainty to parents and participants going forward.”
Across Latrobe, Baw Baw, Wellington and East Gippsland local council areas there are 14 Basketball Victoria affiliated associations, and 2019 figures indicated there were over 7,000 registered weekly participants. Overall basketball participation across Gippsland has steadily grown at approximately 3.5 per cent from 2014 to 2019.
A $20 million investment by the Victorian State Government and Latrobe City Council into the redevelopment of the Traralgon Sports Stadium highlighted the area’s appetite for elite basketball facilities was furthered supported by the Victorian Government with Traralgon being named one of 11 High Performance Basketball Hubs around the state.
Basketball Victoria would like to recognise and thank the Latrobe Valley Authority (LVA) and Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) for their contributions in funding and assisting with the development of this project as well as GippSport, our consultant who completed this project. We especially want to congratulate all Gippsland-based basketball associations who were involved in the project to help push basketball in the region in the best possible direction.
