The men’s National Wheelchair Basketball League (NWBL) and Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) seasons have been put on hold with league management to use a 30 day period to look at what options are available to proceed with the 2020 season in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The men’s season was due to start on 15th May with a cluster round in Brisbane, featuring all seven NWBL teams and culminate with the Roller Hawks hosting both the mens and womens finals in the first weekend of August. The draw with all venues confirmed was finalised just days before the escalation of the Coronavirus response in Australia.
In an email to clubs, Basketball Australia has advised it will be in contact with all delegates throughout the upcoming 30 days to formulate the next steps for the wheelchair leagues 2020 season.
While postponing the season is disappointing it is in no way unexpected in the current circumstances and the Roller Hawks fully support the move to prioritise everyone's health including its own players, volunteers and supporters in line with recommendations made by government and health authorities.
Basketball Australia’s announcement follows the Roller Hawks’ decision to suspend all training to minimise the spread of COVID-19 as the world tries to deal with the pandemic.
“Obviously it’s disappointing, but postponing training and putting the season on hold is just common sense.” says Club President Geoff Adams. “Just about every sporting league in the world is on hold right now and we’re no different.”
“The fortunate thing for us is as a volunteer based organisation, once the basketball stops, so do most of the expenses. We don’t have the financial pressure to keep playing that football codes currently do, so for now we’re just on hold.”
“I’ve been in touch with a number of our sponsors over the last few days and they fully understand the situation, because everyone is affected by this. No matter what happens to this season, they’re with us when we get back on court, whether that’s later in the year or beyond.”
Adams acknowledges there is a lot to consider when it comes to looking at what lies ahead.
“I think the first thing is, we’ve got to get through this situation. Listening to the experts, the advice from health authorities, we’re talking months. Six months, maybe longer, the situation is changing all the time.”
“2020 was set to be a big year for us especially in the second half of the year with the national league, the Paralympics, the new Waratah League and Slam Down Under. What you can squeeze in once things go back to normal remains to be seen because we don’t know when that will be.”
“From an NWBL point of view I guess a lot will also depend on the Paralympics and if that goes ahead. Any national league season would have to work around that. Whether you end up having a shortened season, may be a few cluster rounds, maybe a round robin tournament.”
“These are probably all scenarios that Basketball Australia will look at but we may get to 30 days from now and still not have any clearer picture. There’s so much difference between the best and worst case scenarios with this thing, and so many variables to consider.”
“All we can do is just follow it day by day, and see what happens.”
The club will continue to liaise with Basketball Australia through Team Manager James Williams and keep the players informed while the Roller Hawks committee will continue to ensure that any matters that arise during this time are addressed.
If anyone has any questions regarding the club’s response to COVID-19 they can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.