Paul Berridge
Whanganui's highly regarded moneyed basketball tournament is leaving home for at least the next three years as HoopNation organisers Paul Berridge and KJ Allen have announced a new hosting agreement with Tauranga's ASB Arena.
Since 2011, HoopNation has grown from a 16-team event at Labour Weekend to upwards of 35 men's and women's teams including NBL stars and international squads, with a positive economic impact for the town estimated at $1.6m.
However, teething troubles rapidly emerged about the size of Springvale Stadium and its three basketball courts to cope with the growth of the event.
In 2014, HoopNation was able to use a fourth court at neighbouring Jubilee Stadium to run a 35-team programme, but had to reduce the lineup to 30 teams last year, with only three in the women's division, because Jubilee had been previously booked for an indoor bowls tournament.
This led to serious discussions for Berridge and Allen with Whanganui District Council and mayor Annette Main about leaving town unless HoopNation could receive more support from the Economic Development Impact Fund and discussions to expand Springvale could begin in earnest.
"There were signals after our first [tournament] in 2011; participants were saying 'this event is going to be huge'," said Berridge.
"Then the response was, 'this venue's going to be too small'."
They had to start games at 8am and finish after 9pm over Labour Weekend in order to get through the schedule.
"Having to turn away teams because we haven't got the capacity. No one wants to be playing games till midnight," said Allen.
Ultimately, HoopNation stayed put for one more October event, but Berridge and Allen said yesterday that the ASB Arena, with its nine modern basketball courts, reflected where they wanted to take the tournament.
As well as their three current divisions, they will add Under 17, Under 19 and adult social mixed grade competitions.
The suggestion to stay in Whanganui and use various school basketball courts was not realistic for the moneyed tournament without spectator areas, electronic scoreboards, and modern court markings, Berridge said.
The co-organisers, who have intimated in the past they willingly ran HoopNation at a financial loss, said the decision to move the tournament to Tauranga was not taken lightly.
Allen said when they came up with the concept 5-6 years ago, Whanganui was getting national press for being a bad place with then-mayor Michael Laws fuelling the controversy on talkback radio.
Berridge said they wanted to change that image and the players kept coming back to HoopNation because they enjoyed playing in the town on an annual basis.
However, the market for basketball in Tauranga continues to grow, with giant age group tournaments like the Aims Games and Mel Young Classic.
"The venue and the [Tauranga City] council were part of the discussions when the tender got put in for it," said Berridge.
"The city is on the understanding of the importance the event has."
"There's the people power on the ground we struggle with [here]," Allen added.
He wanted to thank all the local organisations from the WDC, Visit Whanganui, and Whanganui and Partners for all their help over the years.
The pair made it clear they are not quitting Whanganui and through their promotions company will continue to run other events in the town - starting with the 'Rise of the Fallen' boxing show in two months.
"Ultimately, I'm not going anywhere, KJ's not going anywhere. Our fulltime jobs are still based in Whanganui," said Berridge.
"But, economics - what is the source plan for facilities that are going to be developed in Whanganui for [events] on a regular basis?"
They will look into having other basketball events at Springvale, such as encouraging NBL teams to play preseason games here.
"We've also talked about a junior HoopNation. The younger age group where the youngsters are embracing the sport," said Berridge.
"If there's local business interested in talking to us, of a way of that carrying on, we're happy."
Allen said after the three years, there is a chance HoopNation could come home.
"There's so much we will be thankful for, and if Whanganui puts up a new [sports] venue, who knows what the future will hold?"