Members may be aware that the BBI stadium was affected by the recent floods. Some of our members enquired about how the floods have affected the stadium and the consequential effect on the BBI Competitions.

At the invitation of the BBI Management Committee, I, along with other Club presidents, attended a briefing and inspection of the stadium last Sunday. I can now advise members:

• Courts 1 and 2 were covered with water and mud but courts 3 and 4 survived any water damage;
• Courts 1 and 2 are still in the process of drying but it is obvious that they will not need to be replaced and the damage from “cupping” will be capable of being rectified with some sanding expected to be relatively minor;
• The resurfacing of Courts 1 and 2 undertaken in December will need to be reapplied once the moisture levels of the Courts have reached acceptable levels;
• The water rose to the height of the ceilings in the canteen and the car parks. Those ceilings have been removed along with all other gyprock walls in the stadium.
• The canteen will need to be renovated. Some equipment may be salvaged.
• The BBI Management Committee is investigating methods of funding the repair work including obtaining Government grants, undertaking fund raising, using available cash reserves and extending loan facilities. They are confident of meeting the cost of required works.

Competitions will commence as expected with games being staged on Courts 3 and 4 and at some school venues including BBC and Churchie. Junior competitions will commence on February 18 and 19. BBI is aware of the impact that may occur where you have children in multiple teams with the obvious potential of playing at different venues and will be reviewing game scheduling to minimize this impact. With expected time requirements for drying, sanding, sealing and curing of the Courts, it would seem that the worst case scenario would be that the Grading Season will be played as above. However, if the process results in Courts 1 and 2 being available earlier than expected, games would revert totally to the BBI stadium as soon as they can.

If this additional news affects your decision to play in the Grading Season, I need to know as soon as possible as this will affect our junior team nominations due shortly. Please email me back by return.

You can assist BBI’s cash flow at this time by registering and paying your BBI membership (not applicable to B.L.A.S.T. participants) at your earliest convenience. This can be done online via their website.

If you have any products, skills or services that you can provide on a concessional basis and that may be useful to BBI during this renovation process, please let me know what you can provide and I will pass this on to the BBI Management Committee.

Regards

Tom Coogan

President

North Brisbane Basketball Assn Inc