THE Cairns Taipans have thrown their full support behind Basketball Australia and its elite men's competition.

The Taipans were in celebration mode yesterday, believing BA’s decision to move forward, rather than hold off entirely on its "new NBL", was a positive move for the sport in Australia and particularly in the Far North.

Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast, New Zealand, Wollongong,
Adelaide and Perth will play in the 2009-10 league with hopes high a team from Melbourne will be added despite the withdrawal of Melbourne-based Dragons and Tigers over the past week.

While the elite competition
announced yesterday is not the "new NBL" in the shape BA had hoped, chief executive Larry Sengstock said the immediate concern was providing an avenue for players and staff to ply their trade in Australia.

"We are absolutely committed to ensuring that our competition and the teams within it are financially viable and long-term sustainable," Sengstock said.

"We’re therefore working with our teams on a two-stage basis.

"Stage two … is to have a new national competition in 2010.

"In the meantime, stage one is to work with our teams that we have now because we as a sport recognise that we don’t have the ability to take time off.’’

Taipans general manager Mark Beecroft said Cairns agreed
entirely with Basketball Australia’s call to play on this season.

"We are, with the clubs that are left, incredibly supportive of Basketball Australia," Beecroft said.

"We wish to continue to work with them to engage a sustainable financial model going forward that engages grassroots basketball."

"We’re all in agreement that is the direction we need to go," Beecroft said.

"For us there have been some anxious moments through this process but (yesterday’s) news that we will be playing basketball for the Taipans and the Cairns community (is exciting)."

The Snakes were on the brink of extinction after being placed in administration last December but a community ownership scheme helped raise the $500,000 working capital needed to enter the new competition as well as funds to buy the Taipans’ NBL licence from liquidators.

A $1 million guarantee was secured from Cairns Regional Council, although Mayor Val Shier said last night the council would review the make-up of the new competition before giving final approval to the commitment to ensure ratepayers’ money was not at risk.

Beecroft said the five months since the club had been placed in administration had been tumultuous but yesterday’s decision was great reward for the entire community.

"From the momentum generated by the players that finished the (2008-09) season after the club was placed in administration to the foundation and syndicate memberships to raise the working capital, to Cairns Regional Council’s $1 million guarantee, to today where we know that we will be playing basketball, I think we’re thrilled," he said.

Taipans president Denis Donaghy will join Sengstock and other club owners in Melbourne today to thrash out competition details including the competition schedule.

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