By JARROD POTTER
CROWDS flocked to Dandenong Basketball Stadium this season, with the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) releasing promising figures about larger crowds for Rangers matches.
The club with the highest growth in attendance for men’s SEABL games was Dandenong, with the Rangers increasing their attendance by 124.57 per cent.
Dandenong also led the league in the women’s association with the highest growth in attendance as Dandenong experienced a 71.5 per cent rise in attendance.
Dandenong Basketball Association CEO David Graham said a lot of factors led to the Rangers filling the stands all season and remain promising signs into the future.
“This year the DBA were successful at attracting new crowds to the Dandenong Stadium to watch both SEABL men and women,” Graham said.
“The increases from previous years were great to see. I think this happened as a result of a number of factors.”
Firstly there has been a solid rise in the number of participants in the game this year, this doubled with the general interest in the game has been significant, he said.
“Our junior championship teams for example have risen from 37 to 40 teams.”
“Importantly, also was the quality of players who we put on court – in the men for example the talents of Daequon Montreal and Tony Lewis for the best part of the season were second to none, highlighted by Daequon’s 40-point, 10-rebound MVP effort in the final.
“For the women, the Rangers were three times defending champions and this no doubt had a drawing effect on the crowds.”
Graham highlighted the rapid increase of junior and senior support for DBA-run basketball competitions, bulging at the seams to fit all the teams in, and said it was a great indicator of the area’s support of physical activity.
“Dandenong Stadium is huge, yet we still have trouble fitting in all the team and competition requests,” Graham said.
“At some stage in the next three to five years more courts will be added to accommodate the sport of basketball and also that of volleyball.”
“The growth spurt we are having is tremendous, one which is important for all sorts of reasons including the fightback against video games,” he said.
“Maybe the parents are starting to get some wins and finally get their kids away from the screens and doing some great physical activity.”
