EXCITEMENT BUILDING: Tamworth Basketball Association administrator Peter McDonald, left, and Tamworth Sports Dome manager Peter Dale, are all set for the NBL games at the Dome tomorrow and Saturday. Photo: Geoff O’Neill 310812GOD01
TAMWORTH sports fans are in for a mighty big weekend.
Not only has the local sporting finals season entered full swing, pre-season fever for some of the country’s best sportsmen has reached a new high in the city.
Following the successful A-League pre-season visit to the city last week – Newcastle Jets vs Brisbane Roar at Wests – members of the Sydney Kings and Cairns Taipans NBL teams will roll into town on Friday for the Schweppes Drury’s Cup.
The teams will play two games at the Sports Dome, tipping off tomorrow and Saturday from 7.30pm.
This marks the second year the Sydney Kings will have visited the Dome as part of their pre-season commitments.
Last year they played host to the Gold Coast Blaze.
Tomorrow the Kings will visit a number of local schools to talk to students and on Saturday morning they’ll host an “open shoot” for youngsters interested in the sport.
Sports Dome manager Peter Dale said the weekend was something staff had been looking forward to for some time.
“Basketball fans can expect a really enjoyable weekend,” he said.
And Tamworth Basketball Association administrator Peter McDonald agreed.
“It’s a huge boost for our city to get to see basketball of this calibre in our own backyard,” he said.
Tamworth Regional Council’s business events manager Gavin Flanagan said it was not often a region was able to forge such close relationships with top level sporting clubs.
“Our agreement with the Sydney Kings means we get the chance to see Australia’s best basketballers in Tamworth each year for three years,” he said.
“To have the A-League and the NBL in the space of a couple of weeks says a lot about Tamworth as a sporting destination.”