Coffs Harbour to host 2006 NBL Blitz

National Basketball League (NBL) today announced that the 2006 NBL Blitz pre-season tournament of the Philips Championship would be held in Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales from 8 – 10 September.

The event, which will see all 12 NBL teams participate, will be hosted by Coffs Harbour Basketball in association with the Coffs Harbour Sports Unit and Sportz Central. It will mark the first time that the Blitz, which was successfully reintroduced to the NBL calendar in 2004, has been hosted in a non-NBL city.

NBL Commissioner Rick Burton said that the professional presentation of the bid package by Coffs Harbour had ensured the success of their tender.

“The NBL Board were very impressed with the level of detail that the Coffs Harbour Sports Unit were able to present in their bid package,” said Burton.

“The high level of professionalism of their plans will ensure that we will build on the success of the past two Blitzes, which were hosted extremely well by the Cairns Taipans.”

“Taking the step of moving out of an existing NBL market is a major one for the league and not one we took lightly,” Burton added.

“Coffs Harbour is however a very strong basketball market at the grass roots level and we see this as a chance both to reach new fans and to give Coffs Harbour the chance to showcase their ability to stage major basketball events. The success of this event could lead to either a regular season Philips Championship game in Coffs Harbour or maybe even the chance to have their own NBL team some time in the future.”

Games in the 2006 NBL Blitz tournament will be played at Sportz Central, the North Coast's largest indoor stadium. Sportz Central is a multi-court indoor facility, which can be configured into five basketball courts.

Coffs Harbour’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Ian Hogbin, said the event would be a major boost for the region.

“Securing the NBL Blitz is a fantastic coup for Coffs Harbour and I’d like to add my congratulations to Council’s Sports Unit, the staff of Sportz Central and the Coffs Harbour Basketball Association for their hard work on the successful bid,” said Councillor Hogbin.

“The Blitz will be an excellent opportunity for fans to see the best basketball players in Australia – including most of the national squad – in one international competition.”

“Basketball has a very strong local following and I’m sure that the Blitz will ensure that that support base will increase enormously. Coffs Harbour has already hosted a number of major games in this sport and I’m confident that hosting this year’s Blitz will help the city win future basketball events,” he said.

The Blitz will see over 150 of Australia’s top basketball players as well as the best coaches and referees in the country come to the one venue for a weekend of exciting pre-season action. The NBL will run a number of clinics around the event for local players, coaches and referees as well as assisting with a number of community outreach programs in the area around Coffs Harbour.

Blitz matches are shortened to two 12-minute halves with a running clock for all but the last two minutes of each game. In 2005, the Melbourne Tigers took out the Blitz with former NBA centre Chris Anstey earning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

Further details of the game schedule and competition format will be released at a later date.