The JackJumpers will build a new high-performance centre next to the Kingborough Sports Centre in Kingston, it has been announced.
The facility on a 5,500sqm site will support the NBL team by providing development pathways for young players and freeing up court space for community-based competitions.
Minister for Sport and Events Nic Street said the new centre will transform the facilities available at the Kingborough Sports Precinct into a broader recreational hub.
A development application has been lodged with Kingborough Council to begin the process, with Mayor Paula Wriedt saying she is keen to see the development move forward.
“We know that many of the players have settled here in Kingborough and are becoming part of our community life, buying their homes and enrolling their children into local schools,” she said.
“Locating the high-performance centre near Kingston High School, which has a focus on sports, health and wellbeing, will enable further opportunities for our young basketball community.
JackJumpers CEO Christine Finnegan said the new facility will house the entire club and the 2023/24 NBL Trophy.
“This site will … provide a training facility that will match others in the competition and contribute greatly to our desire to be a destination club where we will give our all to continue to defend the island,” she said.
There is also the possibility a nearby site could become home to an AFL high-performance centre, if testing reveals the proposed Rosny site is not suitable.
Street said the state government remain committed to building a community sporting facility in Hobart’s northern suburbs, the original location slated for the JackJumpers facility.
