By ANEEKA SIMONIS
ENTIRE basketball teams have had to withdraw from the coming season and several sponsor funded uniforms have gone to waste following changes to competition schedules at Cardinia Life.
Last week the sporting facility, along with Pakenham and District Basketball Association (PDBA) announced all junior winter basketball competitions, with the exception of Under 14 Boys, will now be played on Saturday.
The decision has thrown parents into a tailspin – with one parent, who also coaches a junior team, claiming she and parents she had spoken to were not consulted about the change.
“I am a coach but no one ever contacted me and I never received any feedback (about suggestions to move playing times),” said Corinne Wallin who coaches the Under 16 Boys.
She said the changes meant that her team of seven players had folded because other sport and family commitments take up their Saturdays.
“It’s very inconvenient. A lot of kids have parents that are separated so they are with one parent one weekend and with the other the next weekend,” Corinne said.
She said more than $400 was recently forked out by the team’s major sponsor for new uniforms that will now go unused.
Vanessa Sach, the parent of an Under 16 competitor, said her son’s team has also folded because of the changes.
“Unfortunately our team will fold, in part, to other sports and one boy not been able to play on Saturday for religious reasons,” she said.
Cardinia Life, which described the changes as “fantastic”, said they came under the advice of PDBA that believed the Saturday timeslot would relieve pressure on the busy weeknight period to allow new teams to compete.
The council’s team leader of recreation and facilities Heather Callahan and YMCA’s area manager of the Cardinia region Chris Hargreaves said “most parents” supported the change in a joint statement about the changes.
“Having the majority of the competition on the same day allows more efficient management,” the statement also read.
The PDBA apologised for any inconvenience caused but said the competition changes were made based on supporting research analysis and participant feedback.
“Overall, only 22 per cent of current junior participants may be adversely affected by a change from mid-week to Saturday,” read the statement which it said were based on the number of members registered in November last year.
The group said the change will allow more week-day study time for scholastic competitors, encourage more players from outside of the shire to compete at the stadium as well as align junior competition timetables with nearby basketball associations including Casey and Dandenong.
The council said the timetable changes and its impact during the competitive season will be under constant review.
