21^st June 2013

 

Memo to: All Club Administrators

 

RE: CBA State of Play

You will all be aware that over the last 2 seasons, the number of teams entered in to CBA run competitions continues to grow.  While this is just another example of what a fabulous sport basketball is, it doesn’t come without its problems, especially in post-quake Christchurch.

There are two significant issues facing the Association at present: facilities and referees. 

While the remediation of Cowles Stadium by the Christchurch City Council has been a positive interim measure, it certainly hasn’t resolved the capacity issues.  CBA continues to lobby council and CCDU regarding the urgency of a Metro Sports Hub.  The feedback at this time is that this project in “on hold” for an indefinite period of time while local and central government sort out who is responsible for the project.

Solution: the CBA is continuing to work to “centralise” the key activities as much as possible.  We are aware of the issues associated with people having to travel between multiple venues each week.  Unfortunately, it appears that this will be the status quo for at least the next three to four years.  As updates are provided to the Association on the progression of more multi court facilities come to hand, we will feed these back to you and we will continue to minimise the travel as much as possible.

As team numbers have increased it is unfortunate that referee and volunteer numbers have not increased at the same rate.  In 2013, the CBOA has found itself at point where the number of available referees is no longer enough to sustain the number of teams involved in CBA competitions.  The CBA and CBOA have been working together to try and identify short term and long term solutions to this issue.

Solutions:

1.       For the remainder of the 2013 Club season, when the score bench duty draw is released on a weekly basis, where necessary duty teams will be also handed “Stand by”  referee duty.  This will be highlighted by way of asterisk on the score bench roster.  If the game you are on duty for is short a referee, it will the responsibility of the Stand By team to provide the referee.  If your club has a team identified with Stand by referee duty it is important to ensure that one of the duty members knows the rules and can take the whistle.  Floor controllers will be enforcing this and from the weekend of June 28^th Match Rules 5.4  5.5, 5.6 and 5.7 will be enforced by the Association.

2.       Please note that Stand By referees will be used as a last resort and the CBOA are continuing to work tirelessly to provide coverage of as many games as is possible with limited numbers.

3.       If Clubs are aware of members within their own communities who are interested in undergoing referee training or development, please contact CBOA secretary Raewyn Willocks on 0272946464.

4.       CBOA are currently working alongside secondary schools to engage with those referees involved with the Friday night basketball competition in schools to involve them into more formal referee training.  It is anticipated that these new referees will be available for the 2014 season to bolster numbers.

5.       Other initiatives will be rolled out over the next 4 months in conjunction with both the CBA and CBOA.

We appreciate that teams become frustrated when those people officiating their games do not know the rules or only give a half hearted attempt.  If you are rostered on, it is vital to ensure that you support this initiative so that everyone gets a quality experience.  We also appreciate that clubs are experiencing some frustrations at being in this position.  Every effort is being made to cover as many games as possible on a weekly basis.  Where this cannot happen we are asking for your patience.  It is anticipated that the situation will improve somewhat in the second half of the season as those referees involved in national events and activities are released back to the Associations.

 

Any questions, please feel free to contact me directly (ceo@canterburybasketball.co.nz)

 

Kind regards

 

Megan Harlick

General Manager