Feature image via: Halim Mellick
The NBL1 West’s Joondalup Wolves have announced that the women’s and men’s teams will move to the showcourt of HBF Arena for the 2024 season.
The home of the 2023 NBL1 National Finals saw both the main court and the show court used to host and broadcast games across the country, with the two Championship Games taking place in the 2,000-seat stadium.
Eric Paul Goldie: Crowd gathering prior to the Championship Game
The Joondalup Wolves CEO Andrew Summerville said that the National Finals truly highlighted the potential for his club ultimately and pushed them to make the sizable change.
“Had we not hosted the NBL1 National Finals, we never would have been sure we could make this happen,” Summerville explained to NBL Media.
“Joondalup has always been a basketball city, but the Nationals really put the eyes of the country on us. I was at the Eltham Dandenong tournament last week and I had people come up to me and say they had heard of the Wolves from our NBL1 game nights and the National Finals.”
“Seeing the court all setup and full of fans that weekend showed what we as a club are capable of and it essentially became a test case for us making the permanent move. The challenge now for us is to try and fill it every game.
“During the men’s National final between Knox and Rockingham, our President Ryan Hunter and Vice President Glen Simpson were watching from the stands. Ryan texted me to come up and see him in his seat. I remember them telling me, ‘It’s time, let’s make the move’.”
Summerville explained that the move was necessary to accommodate the influx of fans that gained in the past season.
“Why it became necessary is a pretty simple equation, we have more fans than we have seats,” he told the Wolves.
“Anyone that came to a game last year will know that it was pretty difficult to find a seat at times. We were experiencing unprecedented numbers, numbers that caught everyone off guard.
Summerville explained that there would be some challenges with the move with half of the seating area going under refurbishment for the first half of the season. But he said it will be worth it by the end to ensure that more fans can reserve a seat – with over 600 people trying to in the past season.
“There was never going to be an ideal time, the ideal time is to strike when the iron is hot. We thought now is the time to move,” he explained.
“We’ve done this for the fans… And we’ll hopefully be pack out 2,000 people for the second half of the season.
He explained this move allows the club to expand and grow, to a point in which they envision the Joondalup Wolves can be the second biggest club in the state behind the 10-time NBL champion Perth Wildcats.
The Wolves have made several key signings this offseason, including WNBL star Emma Clarke joining the women’s side and the men’s retaining 20-point-per-game scorer C.J. Turnage.
The NBL1 season starts on March 23, see the full fixture here.
Stay up-to-date with all the latest NBL1 signings via the 2024 Roster Tracker here.
