Advertisement 1

Stratford Basketball Association looking to build NBA-sized court

The Stratford Basketball Association is looking for city support to build a new, NBA-sized outdoor basketball court at the Stratford Education and Recreation Centre.

Article content

The Stratford Basketball Association is looking for council support for the proposed development of a new NBA-sized outdoor basketball court at the Stratford Education and Recreation Centre.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

The proposal was put forward by association volunteers Lori Belanger and Brian Cooper, who are spearheading the project along with volunteer and Basketball Canada COO Michael Bartlett, at Stratford’s community services subcommittee meeting Thursday. If approved by council, the proposed court would be 94 feet by 50 feet and would include six nets, an all-weather sport court surface, eco-friendly lighting to encourage safe evening play, and a six-foot high chain link fence around the court.

“When you compare it to our other outdoor sport access in Stratford … what is apparent is we need more courts,” said Brian Cooper, who, along with being a volunteer with the Stratford Basketball Association, is also chair of Canada Basketball’s board of directors.

Article content
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Cooper said there is currently only one outdoor basketball court in the city while there are 14 fields for soccer, football or rugby, 11 baseball diamonds, 10 pickleball courts, five tennis courts and four volleyball courts. While Cooper said the court built last year beside the Stratford YMCA is an excellent addition to the city, it’s not regulation size so isn’t suitable for games organized by the Stratford Basketball Association.

“What we’re proposing is to build a court that is for public use, that is for use by the school boards as well, that will be a full-size NBA court … and there will also be an additional four half-court hoops going the other way. So this could be utilized for curriculum programming. It could be used for camps. It can be utilized for multiple games going at once,” said Cooper, later adding the proposed court could, if there’s enough interest, help the association launch a summer basketball league.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

At a total estimated cost of about $160,000, Cooper said the basketball association has already managed to raise roughly $92,000 in direct donations, grant funding and donations in kind, including backboards, nets and poles from NBA Canada and lighting from Ideal Supply. Cooper said he’s confident the association will be able to drum up the remaining $68,000.

From the city, Cooper requested a donation of 5,000 square feet of land between the tennis courts and the parking lot at the Stratford Education and Recreation Centre, payment of about $400 annually in hydro costs for the site, the cost of future improvements, repairs and maintenance of court amenities, and insurance costs.

“I’m very excited about this proposal. I think it’s a much-needed addition to Stratford sports. I do have a resident expert in my house … and he’s really excited about it, especially with the lighting and that it’s a full-size NBA court,” said Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach, referring to her 15-year-old son. “His only request was that the rims on the nets would not be double rims. I guess the ones that were installed last year near the Y(MCA) are double rims and they’re pretty stiff.”

The Stratford Basketball Association’s proposal will go to a future community services standing committee meeting for further discussion before it can go to council for final approval. If approved, Belanger said they are aiming to have the court completed and ready to play on by June 2022.

gsimmons@postmedia.com

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    News Near Tillsonburg
      This Week in Flyers