Page 9 - BWA 2021 ANNUAL REPORT

club and association land more and more kids are trying out for WABL creating a significant and ever growing demand for the competition within the metro area.
The SBL product had a rich 30+ year history in WA Basketball and in 2021 the rebrand to NBL1 West took the league to new heights as part of a national brand. The NBL1 has created a pathway for athletes to the Australian National Leagues and offered unprecedented exposure to the league. The inaugural NBL1 West competition saw all 276 games from the 14 clubs, live streamed with commentary and graphics overlay, a first in the history of the league. Over 4 million minutes of NBL1 West were live streamed around the world by over 138,000 viewers.
The rebranding of SBL to NBL1 was a significant milestone for the sport nationally and I personally would like to thank all the NBL1 clubs for their support and collegiality during the yearlong negotiations to achieve the milestone. The future looks great for the brand and hopefully we can secure some long term partners to assist in the ongoing costs of the competition.
THE BOARD & STAFF
I would like to thank the Board for its ongoing and continual support, those members being Keith Dunlap (Chair, retired during the year), Jennifer Riatti (Deputy Chair), Sandra Riches, Cassandra Wright, Steve Bezant, Phil Nixon and Fiona Notley, for their dedication and the free time that they so willing give to Basketball WA.
I would also like to thank the hard-working staff at BWA who do the big jobs in actually implementing our programs, supporting our members and driving the sport forward. They willing go over and above whenever required and serve the sport with distinction.
The sport of basketball is delivered by a variety of stakeholders and has a strong and professional affiliated membership determined to make a difference in the community. We couldn’t function without the support of our key partners and our deepest thanks go to Healthways, the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Venues West for their ongoing support and commitment to the sport of Basketball.
“Player numbers bounced back from the heavily affected COVID 2020 year and we surpassed 57,000 registered participants.”
BWA ANNUAL REPORT 2021 | 9