The numbers tell the story.

For 50 years, the Greater Shepparton Basketball Association’s Annual Junior Tournament has set the gold standard, welcoming thousands of basketball players and their families to the region to hit the hardwood.

And in the half-century edition of the famed basketball bonanza that has seen NBA stars Dyson Daniels, Johnny Furphy, and Shepparton’s own Australian Opals representative product Maddie Garrick showcase their skillset, the same was true again.

About 1700 basketballers across 18 divisions and their support crews, numbering close to 5000 people, packed the region in the latest chapter of one of Australia’s largest junior sporting tournaments.

“We used eight venues across the Greater Shepparton and Campaspe Shires and put on over 300 games for the weekend in a whole range of divisions,” GSBA operations manager Tony Long said.

“It’s a massive amount of work to get the kids on the court, but we do it for our teams to have competition, and good competition.”

But with all the buzzer beaters, baulks, and sunken three-pointers, the sheer number of participants has forced a rethink for the popular tournament.

“We’ve been splitting it over two weekends for the past couple of years,” Long said.

“We just don’t have enough venues to hold them all in the same venue.”

The venue central to it all is the Shepparton Sports Stadium.

The four-court home of the GSBA and several indoor sport user groups, has served the community for around as long as the tournament has been running.

But a combination of ageing and constrictive facilities, set against a rapidly growing Shepparton population, has shone a spotlight on the need for a significant redevelopment and prompted extensive campaigns to stage what would be the biggest facelift in roughly 25 years.

“We’re finding the constraints of having not enough courts - and the availability of courts - to be a massive drawback,” Long said.

But on Monday morning, a significant development in the campaign to redevelop the outdated facilities unfolded.

The coalition has made a $12 million pledge toward its proposed redevelopment, one which would deliver four new multi-use courts – including a 3000-spectator show court – refurbished change rooms, accessible amenities, and a revitalised precinct access.

“It’s fantastic and it’s what we need,” Long said.

“The town’s growing at a massive rate, and the ability for us to have another four courts to play and train locally on would be a huge asset to us as an association.

“We have domestic competitions running where we can’t get everyone on the court and people get knocked back from playing because we don’t have the capacity.

“New courts being built would be a massive asset for us in basketball.”

Meanwhile, the action doesn’t stop there.

The sounds of squeaking sneakers and swishing nets will return on the weekend of December 5-6, with the championship and division one competition’s tipping off the second leg of the 2026 Junior Tournament.

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Monday, 17th September 2029

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