ALL 10 National Basketball League clubs will be Bendigo-bound in September, after the city secured the rights to host the 2026 NBL Blitz pre-season tournament.<\/p>\n
In what is being hailed as a major economic boost to the region and another proud chapter in Bendigo\u2019s rich basketball history, the annual tournament will be staged at Red Energy Area from 2\u20136 September.<\/p>\n
The NBL Blitz will feature 10 games over five days, with all 10 teams involved, including Melbourne-based pair Phoenix and United.<\/p>\n
The announcement last week that Bendigo had won the rights to stage the tournament came four months after the city hosted Melbourne United and homegrown hero Dash Daniels for two packed games in January.<\/p>\n
United will play a further two games in Bendigo in 2027.<\/p>\n
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards were joined for the announcement by NBL Group CEO David Stevenson, Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze, South East Melbourne Phoenix\u2019s Angus Glover and Melbourne United\u2019s Christian D\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n
Allan lauded the Blitz as a chance for young basketballers in Bendigo to meet their heroes in their own backyard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how important basketball is to my hometown, and bringing the NBL Blitz to Bendigo is a huge win for the region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only will this inspire young basketballers, it will bring more visitors to Bendigo\u2019s hotels, restaurants and cafes \u2013 boosting our visitor economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards added that fans flocked to see Melbourne United in January and expects they \u201cwill embrace the opportunity to see all 10 NBL teams in action\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be an incredible moment for our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Blitz provides an opportunity for NBL teams to play multiple preseason games against one another ahead of the start of the regular season.<\/p>\n
Perth Wildcats and Cairns Taipans will have the honour of opening the tournament.<\/p>\n
Five-time Olympian and seven-time NBL MVP Gaze was thrilled to see the Blitz headed to his home state.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an old-timer now, to see the way in which the game is evolving and to see the opportunities that players have to compete at a high level at amazing facilities like this, here in Victoria, we are absolutely blessed,\u201d the 60-year-old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s the north, the south, the east, the west, the entire state, people can come and marvel at the infrastructure that we have.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think of the success of basketball, a lot of that starts right here (at grassroots level).<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this tournament that we have here, it\u2019s not just about inspiring the next Tess Madgen or Dash Daniels or Dyson Daniels, it\u2019s about inspiring people just to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this community centre here, it goes beyond just elite-level basketball, which will be demonstrated in this tournament, but it\u2019s also about locals being active, wanting to participate and play this great game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extraordinary to see the opportunities that these superstar players have to play in, and (I know) we\u2019re going to have a fantastic tournament here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament is expected to provide huge economic spin-offs for the city\u2019s hospitality and tourism industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NBL Blitz will showcase Bendigo as a must-see destination and give fans plenty of time to see what else the city and region have to offer,\u201d Visit Victoria CEO Brendan McClements said.<\/p>\n
The Blitz announcement comes as upgrades continue at Red Energy Arena, including two new indoor courts and the recently completed lighting for the outdoor netball courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALL 10 National Basketball League clubs will be Bendigo-bound in September, after the city secured the rights to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-715405","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\/715405","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=715405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}