WITH an alley-oop Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has again linked up with Inverell Basketball Association to score a $23,950 State Government grant to address flooding and draining issues at the town's stadium.
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Inverell Basketball President, Tane Richards, said the success of this grant would provide great relief for those trying to organise consistent and safe games for our basketball players.
"Having to issue 'wet weather' alerts for an indoor sport has been more of a problem since the drought broke, with the playing surface becoming dangerously slippery when wet," Mr Richards said.
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"This is a project I've been looking at for few years now and it really is quite exciting to know we're very close to achieving that goal.
"About 80 junior players aged 8 to 16 and 20 senior players are involved in our Association and having to cancel matches is a real inconvenience.
"We are pleased to be able to provide work to Inverell based contractors for this project and expect it will likely take place after the 2022 Inverell Show in March."
Mr Marshall said broken and missing guttering on the stadium roof had put a real dampener on last year's basketball season.
"Anybody who knows basketball is aware that the slightest drop of moisture on the court poses a significant slipping risk to players," Mr Marshall said.
"With so much heavy rain this year junior and senior players have had to negotiate flooding in the stadium which has forced the postponement of play.
"So that wet weather alerts are fewer next year Inverell Basketball Association will use this grant to replace inadequate guttering and address leaks in the roof and around the whirly birds.
"The clock is really running down on this problem because if leaking persists there is a good chance constant exposure to water will seriously damage the floor and structure - which would be costly to fix.
"The stadium is a real community asset. As it is on the showground it is utilised as a pavilion during show and this year was kindly provided as an accessible space for the all-important COVID-19 walk-in vaccination hubs.
"Like making the Hail Mary shot in the dying seconds of a match I hope this project pays off and competition in 2022 can take place uninterrupted."
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