The Hon. Grant Robertson Minister of Sport and Recreation,

We are writing to you to express our extreme disappointment with the lack of funding being given to the sport of basketball by the New Zealand Government and its appointed agents, specifically Sport New Zealand (“Sport NZ”) and High Performance Sport New Zealand (“HPSNZ”).

As a sport we must be able to make our case for equitable funding without fear of recrimination.

We believe that this lack of funding is evidence of systemic bias against our sport. This has manifested itself on numerous occasions over the years. Some of the most recent examples include: 

1. In 2019 HPSNZ allocated Basketball New Zealand $150,000 per annum to fund the international campaigns of four National teams as they attempted to qualify for the Olympic Games (these campaigns cost Basketball NZ well in excess of $1 million per annum yet were still materially underfunded). By comparison Netball New Zealand has received $1.88 million per annum as they prepare for the lower tier Commonwealth Games. Basketball did not rank in the top 15 sports funded by HPSNZ. How can this be possible?

2. Sport New Zealand in September 2019 excluded basketball from its working group for the “five biggest sporting codes” yet included cricket and hockey. Empirical evidence suggests that within the next few years basketball can become New Zealand’s largest sport. We have been the second largest secondary school sport with respect to meaningful participation for the last two years, yet we are excluded from this group. 

3.  Sport NZ in June this year allocated $950,000 to the Wellington Phoenix and $200,000 to the NZ Warriors. The Warriors have just removed their coach in a move estimated to cost them over $1 million in a payout. Both of these teams are owned by multi-millionaires with deep pockets yet they were deemed worthy of taxpayer support. Sport NZ also allocated $2.2million to Netball New Zealand to run their domestic competition (it is obvious to even casual observers of the sporting sector that this amount essentially underpins Netball’s head office) and $1.25 million to fund Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Basketball runs two separate National leagues for men and women yet did not receive any funding. Sport NZ CEO Peter Miskimmin then added insult to injury by stating that he does not feel that Basketball NZ was overlooked.

We ask that you immediately address the incomprehensible treatment being meted out to basketball by both Sport NZ and HPSNZ.  If these organisations will not remove their bias against basketball then we ask that you replace current management with people more in tune with the realities of the current New Zealand sporting landscape.

Yours in Sport,

Harbour Basketball

22nd June 2020