Activewest remains committed to growing Geraldton basketball in 13th year of named sponsorship

It’s a name synonymous with Geraldton basketball, and it will remain so for the near future as Activewest Real Estate announces its 13th year of partnership with the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association.

The home of the Buccaneers and all of the Geraldton basketball community will remain Activewest Stadium as the business continues to be the naming rights sponsor of one of WA’s best regional facilities.

Activewest owner and director Phil Sorgiovanni said the partnership with the GABA had always been about growing the game.

“From our perspective, fortunate enough to be in a position where you can actually put something back into the community that supports us,” he said.

“At that time, it was a vision from the board of the GABA, and that was to expand and grow, so we wanted to be part of that growth as well.

“Last year, we saw (when the Buccs won the NBL1 West championship) that come to fruition. All the hard work of the committee, we’re only a small part of that, and we acknowledge that, but it was an amazing thing that we were allowed to be a part of and to see that come through.”

GABA president Peter Brown said Geraldton basketball would not be where it was today without its sponsors’ support.

“The main thing is Phil’s dedication to the community. It’s the 13th year of the sponsorship of the stadium, which has just been amazing for the basketball,” he said.

“It’s definitely expanding. The juniors are growing every year and . . . we’ve just got to handle as much as we can and try and accommodate everyone.

“With the new courts, we’ve been able to do that. So yeah, it’s fantastic.”

With the infrastructure now in place, Brown said the next step was increasing the manpower to match.

“It’s all about developing the umpires and the coaches and all those things that go with . . . the sport. All the volunteers, clubs are getting bigger and busier,” he said.

However, with the local summer season now over, neither man can wait to see the Geraldton Buccaneers defend their title.

“With the success of the Buccaneers, we’re just finding more and more kids want to play basketball and they want to be indoors,” Brown said.

“Their sport is just on a high nationwide, really, at the moment.

“As far as the NBL1 competition goes, no crowd does it better than Geraldton.”

It’s a sentiment Sorgiovanni shares.

“Knowing a few coaches around the place, I know they thrive on and love the challenge of coming here,” he said.

“Thankfully, they don’t beat us too often.

“But I really appreciate the opportunity to go around again with a good organisation and hope it’s another great year.”