Rhyan Mansell and Sam Banks were also there PT.
Amazing performance - Only won 2 of first 8 games as well.
The state are all fully behind them and junior basketball is now soaring from what leysy understands.
They have also done a fantastic job connecting with the North West Coast.
One of the great sporting stories.
One thing this team has done from the outset, which other Tasmanian sporting teams have not. And that is genuinely embracing the entire state. Not just tokenistically. Sure, they play more games in Hobart, as it is a nicer, more modern venue. But they don't just play token games in Launceston. They were big drawing matches. And it's possible the Silverdome in Launceston (with a similar capacity to the DEC/MyState Bank Arena in Hobart) will host an extra game or two next season than they did in the first year.
Often Tasmanians approach the whole north vs south issue as a point of cultural cringe. And it serves to further embed the parochial north-south divide with even greater venom.
I have always said, it is only a state of 550k. With such a limited market it is even more imperative that you capture the hearts and minds of the entire state. You often hear the argument, "Every other sporting team in the country only has one home ground/stadium, you can't play in two locations." Then it turns into an either/or argument. "Hobart is the capital city, so it should be there. How embarrassing playing in Launceston, that would be like a Melbourne team playing in a country town like Ballarat." Or, "Launceston is more central to the state's population distribution, it should be played there." And it's blinded by the illogical emotion of what region a person is from and where their loyalty lies. Neither of these views is really that true. Hobart's urban area and surrounds holds 40-50% of the state's population, where as greater Melbourne is about 75% of Victoria. So comparing it to Melbourne teams playing in regional Victoria is a false equivalence. But at the same time Hobart is a more concentrated centre of 40-50% of the population. But all in all, about half of the population lives in the north, half in the south.
I grew up in both parts of the state so have no allegiance other than to the whole of the island. Hence I sit outside the self destructive parochial views. We have unique dynamics, why fight it? Instead we should just accept it, embrace it and find ways of making it work. for the benefit of the whole island. And this is what the Jackjumpers seem to have done well.
You have roots on the NW Coast don't you Leysy? As I said earlier, Mrs PT and her family/friends circle were heavily involved in the sport in TAS in basketball's boom years of the 1980s/90s. Mrs PT was a very decent rep player - representing the State as a youth girl. They were Hobart based, but said in general the sport's grass roots seemed to have a bit more depth in the north of the state. Launceston were strong as they consolidated their district rep team simply into one team representing Launceston and surrounds. Whereas Hobart was split into 5-6 different parts (diluting the southern talent pool somewhat). But it was the NW Coast that really punched outside it's weight. Rather than consolidating the NW into one or two parts at district rep level, every town up there seemed to be represented. And such small districts all punched well outside their weight consistently. She remembers getting flogged particularly by Ulverstone and Burnie (in addition to Launceston).
And friends on the coast tell me some district basketball clubs up there pay quite a bit more in player payments than the footy clubs do these days. Both sports have traditionally been very strong on the coast, but you just get the sense that footy is in cultural decline up there (a shame in one of the purest traditional Aussie Rules strongholds anywhere) and basketball is undergoing a resurgence of sorts (not that it really ever went away). Popularity of basketball in Hobart waxes and wains more, but can certainly see it building again, like it was in the 1980s/90s.
My little bloke is 5, going on 6. He plays soccer and a bit of tiny totts' tennis (we also kick the footy for fun). But he seems very keen to follow in Mum's footsteps and get into basketball as soon as he's old enough. He loves the Jack jumpers and is more naturally inclined (both natural ability and self driven interest) to get the basketball out on the driveway and practice/teach himself the skills for the pure fun of it, compared to other ball sports.
