Slam dunk! Support for new 12-court indoor stadium in South Perth grows

Perth could become home to a new 12-court indoor sport stadium within the next three years if a petition succeeds next month.

The stadium, which will be situated in Kensington, will become the home of the Perth Basketball Association (PBA) and be used as a mixed-use community space for multiple indoor sports.

It is anticipated that this new facility will help ease the strain of enough venue space for indoor sports in Perth.

PBA partnered with Basketball WA and Perth Reds Volleyball Association to determine the need for a new venue in the inner-east metropolitan catchment area through a feasibility study.

The study confirmed the urgent need for a 12-court indoor sport stadium and that if not built soon, there might never be suitable local indoor sporting facilities for children to play at in the future.

If the petition is successful (sign it here), the aim is to have the new stadium and facilities built within three years.

Currently, the petition has 6,393 signatures after being posted in early June this year.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the public support of this campaign,” said PBA CEO, Ryan Lenegan. “We’ve amassed over 6000 signatures on our public petition and the interest in signing isn’t waning.”

“Achieving a venue of this nature would have lasting impact, not just for our Club but for all those in our area who want to play and develop their skills as a basketballer,” he added.

The Perth Basketball Association currently operates in over 25 basketball court venues each week but does not have a designated home base.

“Our dedication to the development of Perth basketball over more than six decades has been unwavering and, unbelievably, we’ve operated all this time without a home ground.”

Prominent basketball community members Damian Martin, Greg Hire and Ricky Grace support this project, as does Basketball WA and authorities within other sports like volleyball and badminton.

Politically, the petition has support from Geoff Baker, MLA, Zaneta Mascarenhas MP and it is being championed by the Hon Hannah Beazley MLA:

“As the Member for Victoria Park, which is currently the heart of PBA and the Perth Redbacks, I am determined to find ways to ensure our young families have access to local sporting programs and a local sporting community, and our youth have the facilities they need for this to happen,” said Beazley.

“Critically, we must be forward-looking in our infrastructure planning.”

The public government petition (which can be signed here) will be presented to parliament on August 13.

To view more information about the plans for the new stadium, visit perthredbacks.asn.au/stadium.