Swisherr<\/a>, in Hobart, being forced to close down.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s pretty tough,\u201d Stewart told WIN News in Tasmania.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing has meant as much as what this place has meant over the last five years for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart won two championships with the Perth Wildcats in 1995 and 2000, and scored more than 6,000 points in 17 seasons. He co-owns Swisherr with Adelaide 36ers NBL champion (2002) Mark Nash and former Tasmanian premier Chris Bartlett.<\/p>\n
Why Swisherr is closingThe venue is leased from the University of Tasmania (UTAS).In late 2024, UTAS decided to sell the building (\u201cthe shed\u201d).That decision effectively forces Swisherr to wind up operations in its existing form.It meansSwisherr doesn\u2019t own the facility: no control over its future.Once the building is sold: the lease ends or becomes unviable.Without a venue: the business model (courts, training, community space) collapses.<\/p>\n
Stewart, 56, took direct aim at the Tasmanian government and Premier Jeremy Rockliff for not supporting Swisherr at a time when basketball is booming as one of Australia\u2019s highest participation sports and facilities \u2013 a lack of \u2013 at a premium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s your own community, with your own people and employing your own staff, they don\u2019t really care. There is no care,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no champagne or cheese or corporate boxes \u2014 it\u2019s actually meaningful here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Jeremy really cared, he would have been here on the weekend and engaging with the community, the parents and the families that were here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you really cared, you\u2019d come and check that out, wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019ve got no time for it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Tasmanian Government said: \u201cThere is no greater supporter of community sport than this Liberal Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Sport (Nick Duigan) met with Swisherr to discuss their plans, and they were encouraged to make a budget submission through the community consultation process.\u201d<\/p>\n
One proposal was a $5M investment in building 20 warehouse-style facilities to expand the academy, but the government rejected it because Swisherr is privately owned.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ah, we can\u2019t support you cause you\u2019re privatised,\u2019 and I\u2019m like, well, hold on, you support AFL and the JackJumpers and other professional organisations \u2014 there\u2019s no problems there,\u201d Stewart bemused.<\/p>\n
Stewart lamented the closure as each of the three owners’ kids has grown up playing there.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust having that time with them on the floor every day \u2014 that\u2019s probably the biggest thing I\u2019ll miss,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Anthony\u2019s son Tommy Stewart told WIN: \u201cIt\u2019s helped me a lot because before this was here, I didn\u2019t really have anywhere to shoot \u2013 not much training. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut as soon as this came, I could just come in every single day, and it\u2019s just helped me a long way.<\/p>\n
Bartlett was equally emotional as Stewart.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish my kids could be here with me, but I\u2019ll be equally happy knowing that my kids \u2013 and hundreds, if not thousands of other kids \u2014 benefited from this place for the time I was here,\u201d the former Premier said.<\/p>\n
Academy participant Halley Maughan added: \u201cIt is very upsetting, I think. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s hit many people yet that it\u2019s actually closing until the last day, when no one\u2019s even allowed in anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February, Basketball Australia released its strategic plan towards 2028, focusing on delivering key initiatives against five identified Strategic Pillars:<\/p>\n
Participation \u2013 Enhancing the experience of participants by making basketball safe, fun and accessiblePeople \u2013 Recognising, supporting and developing the people who make basketball thrive, and building capability across the communityPerforming \u2013 Providing Australia\u2019s basketballers and officials with opportunities to be their best on and off the courtLeading \u2013 Delivering best-practice governance and strengthening how the sport operates and engages with its membersImpact \u2013 Celebrating, promoting and growing basketball\u2019s influence and connection with Australian culture.<\/p>\n
BA said: \u201cWith participation demand at an all-time high and waitlists growing in many regions, the plan prioritises improving participation opportunities and experiences, while laying the groundwork for a long-term national facilities strategy to provide more places to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swisherr\u2019s facility closure is a blow to that strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Stewart emotional as Hobart\u2019s Swisherr shuts after UTAS sale forces closure Two-time NBL champion Anthony Stewart was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-610084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}