MAC rides in to the rescue
TweetTHE Motor Accident Commission is all about good driving and today it drove women's basketball in South Australia into the future when it stepped in to save Adelaide Lightning.
By picking up the $150,000 shortfall the club needed to compete in the WNBL next season, MAC kept alive the pathway to elite basketball for South Australian talent, doing the state and its 100,000 female players a great service.
BasketballSA and its chief executive Mark Hubbard - who, toupees off - did a great job to corral MAC, said it was this partnership which "got Lightning across the line".
BSA consultant Mark Williamson also rustled up a good support sponsor in Bob Jane T-Mart, the Australian Sports Foundation taking donations was significant and the Adelaide 36ers donating 10 per cent of all 2015-16 memberships also big.
CONSULTANT: Mark Williamson
For the Lightning NOT to find themselves in the same pickle in 12 months' time, BSA can now go to work at securing a sustainable "not-for-profit" entity with an independent board, and a partnership most likely with University of SA, emulating similar models at Sydney, Canberra and Townsville.
“We see a great road safety benefit to this partnership,” said MAC chief executive Aaron Chia.
“This will enable us to share road safety messages with even more audiences including women, families, younger drivers and residents of regional and remote South Australia.”
Basketball Australia currently retains the Lightning licence since it was handed back by the club's previous owner Vince Marino.
“Adelaide Lightning, five-time winner of the WNBL Championship and a tried-and-true pathway to elite international competition with the Australian Opals, is an entity that we have always believed deserves to continue,” BA chief executive Anthony Moore said.
“The Motor Accident Commission should be congratulated for their vision in supporting this iconic South Australian club.
“I commend the tireless efforts of Basketball South Australia over the past six months and acknowledge the leadership shown by CEO Mark Hubbard and Chairman Mark Lampshire.
"There are a number of varying licence models in the WNBL including private ownership, local association ownership, our highly successful university partnerships and local community ownership.
"It is one of the unique characteristics of this great League."
While MAC is only on board for a year, the Lightning's future now is assured and the club now faces the other real issues - finding a coach and a team able to compete immediately in 2015-16.
Jan Stirling, Adelaide's four-time championship coach and the Opals boss when they won the 2006 FIBA World Championship, has been charged with finding a new coach, Vicki Valk and Tracy York the two major contenders.
Both also have been asked to prepare a list of potential players, BSA stipulating home-grown players are the priority.
Valk, a championship player and coach with Lightning, currently is assisting Jess Foley at Norwood Flames in the Premier League.
York, the first female coach of a men's state league team, a former 36ers assistant to Marty Clarke and Joey Wright and also previously with Lightning, currently is coaching Southern Tigers in the Premier League.
Clearly they would be across whatever talent exists at the state level and which players are returning from college stints in the US.
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