In October 2022 Rochester, the small country town (two hours Northwest of Melbourne), was devastated by floods not seen in years. Businesses, homes and schools were all affected, as well as the only basketball court, which is home to the Rochester Tigers, the local basketball association.
The flooding water seeped into the stadium half a metre up the walls, completely devastating the court. After months of drying the court with over 30 industrial heaters and replacing parts of the walls, steps and all the lines re-painted on the court, it was ready to get back on the court for the junior girls and boys domestic competition.
The assocation tipped off their girl's domestic competition on Monday nights, with over 30 participants, whilst the boy's competition is being held on Tuesday and Thursday nights with over 70 boys ready to get back on the court, they have also added in their Mini Hoops program on Tuesday nights, equating to over 100 junior basketballers on the court each week.
Being forced to put their previous season on hold, the assocation chose to suspend last years registrations for when the court would be fixed, every single participant has re-registered.
Rochester Basketball Assocation President Meagan Keating is excited to see the kids back on the court, “We are so happy to be able to provide the opportunity for the local kids to play the sport they love so much. It has been challenging work, but our whole community has chipped in to help get our little court back up and running.”
Moving forward Megan is hoping to offer a range of opportunities for her junior players to expose them to pathway programs from junior rep, tournaments, SDP, JCC and jamborees, whilst also being a part of hosting tournaments that are held in their region. Megan and the committee plan to encourage more secondary school participants through supporting them to be a part of rep teams to compete in a range of tournaments, which they managed to do this year by getting a boys' team to the U14 Junior Country Champs in Ballarat.
Just after the floods hit, a team from Basketball Victoria helped to install a 3x3 court just to offer a temporary way for the local community to shoot hoops whilst their court was being fixed. This court is still being used by all ages!
Rochester is banding together and bouncing back after the floods to ensure they can offer the best opportunities for their junior basketballers!
