Basketball: Brockbank out of job but confident in sport's future

Greg Brockbank.
Greg Brockbank.
Basketball Otago competitions manager Greg Brockbank is out of a job but has not stopped working.

BBO is insolvent and will hold a special general meeting next month to ratify the appointment of a liquidator.

It shut its doors on Wednesday, leaving Brockbank unemployed.

He has run BBO competitions for the past four seasons and is hoping to be part of whatever is established in place of the organisation.

Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble and Edgar Centre manager Blair Crawford have committed to helping get a strong competition back up and running.

Crawford said it would be ''crippling'' for the centre if there was no club basketball and suggested his organisation could take over running the draws and results. And Brimble is focused on making sure the sport remains an option in the city.

That bodes well for Brockbank (27), who said he had spoken to Basketball New Zealand about a short-term contract so he could continue the planning for the 2015 club season.

''Basketball will continue to exist ... and I'm quite keen to help in whatever way possible,'' Brockbank said yesterday.

The season starts in April. He is halfway through the planning and was at the office on Thursday, the day after finding out he no longer had a job.

''I found out on Wednesday we were starting the liquidation process but obviously I've still got planning to do for next year.

"I'm planning the competition's development calendar ... and I'm still running social competitions now.

''We've still got a development programme going on in the morning and after school.''

He is not ''100% sure'' if he will be paid for that work. He is owed some holiday pay but is unsure how much and is more focused on keeping the sport going.

''My idea is these people have paid for a product and they'll get their product regardless. I have been in talks with Basketball New Zealand about a short-term solution. I'm just not sure what that will be.

''I assume they are keen to see us continue at the community level.''

Brockbank said there were perhaps 4000 registered players in Otago but conceded the database was not ''exactly up to date''.

He felt the sport was flourishing at the grassroots level and cited a 40% growth in the secondary school's competition as an example.

Otago Boys' High School won the national secondary schools championships for the first time in the school's history this year, and Kavangh College won the small schools title. Otago age-group teams also had a stellar year.

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