The future of Taranaki basketball team up in air

The Taranaki Steelformers Mountain Airs Basketball team must clear historic debts or there will be no 2020 season, says club Chairman Laine Hopkinson. The team, run and coached by a small group of volunteers, started the 2019 season with close to a $30,000 deficit and has reduced that by half after a solid season but is calling on the people of Taranaki to help clear the historic debt to pave the way for an unencumbered 2020 season in the National Basketball League (NBL).
“Taranaki has a strong history in the NBL and our belief is that it is important for our young players to be able to clearly see the opportunities to progress in the sport through club, age group reps and then into the NBL,” said Hopkinson.
“It’s do or die for us over the next month. We either clear the debts to pave the way for a successful 2020 season or we pull the pin, and we are calling on the people and businesses of Taranaki to show their support for what is one of the fastest-growing sporting codes in New Zealand.”
Hopkinson said there were a number of ways people and businesses could support the team from making a donation via a Givealittle page https://givealittle.co.nz/…/taranaki-mountainairsbasketball… to donating goods for an auction the club is planning in the coming weeks, which is likely to incorporate a ‘hoop-a-thon’ style event.
“I think it’s up to the region’s basketball community to decide how important having a first-division basketball team is to them. Each year we struggle to compete on and off the court with the high budget teams of the NBL and season 2019 was no different. We are very lucky to have great sponsors, fans and volunteer staff but the reality right now is we need more. Let’s work together to make season 2020 happen.”