{"id":927087,"date":"2026-10-13T21:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/927087\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T21:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T21:48:19","slug":"tasmanias-wnbl-return-is-30-years-in-the-making-with-the-jewels-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/927087\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmania’s WNBL return is 30 years in the making with the Jewels’ debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was one of the most rapid declines in Australian sport.<\/p>\n

In 1991, the Hobart Islanders were champions of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and the toast of Australian basketball.<\/p>\n

But five years later, having won just three games in the previous two seasons, the Islanders were $45,000 in debt and resorting to rattling tins to survive.<\/p>\n

\"Memorabilia<\/p>\n

The Islanders had a short run in the women’s national basketball league in the 1990s. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

In a desperate bid to save the club, they launched a raffle to raise money.<\/p>\n

Tickets were $2, and first prize was a runabout boat.<\/p>\n

Frustrated, the league issued Tasmania an ultimatum: no pay, no play.<\/p>\n

There was even a barb directed at the Islanders by then-league boss Leanne Grantham who, like many of her contemporaries, couldn’t see a world where a Tasmanian team was sustainable.<\/p>\n

“You only have to look at the Devils last year, and the fact the AFL hasn’t started up a team in Tasmania,” she said at the time.<\/p>\n

“You just can’t generate enough income running chook raffles and cake stalls.”\"Memorabilia<\/p>\n

Support for the Islanders’ team rapidly fell away. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

Players, unsure of the club’s survival, started to desert the island and sign elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Three weeks out from the 1997 season, it was all over.<\/p>\n

Fast forward 30 years, and the Tasmania Jewels \u2014 the state’s resurrected WNBL team \u2014 are training out of a state-of-the-art facility and are backed by millions of dollars in private and public money.<\/p>\n

To the Islanders of yesteryear, they might as well be the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

Former assistant coach Ross Park remembers the Islanders training and playing out of suburban recreation centres in the early 90s.<\/p>\n

\"Ross<\/p>\n

Ross Park clearly remembers the glory days of the Islanders. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

He also recalls the fervour the Islanders created when they beat Nunawading in the WNBL championship game in 1991, and the lengths the public went to support the team.<\/p>\n

“There were a few fleeting moments where it looked like [the championship game] may not go ahead because it was over capacity and nobody was brave enough to say [to patrons], ‘you have to leave’,” Park said.<\/p>\n

“So, two fire trucks came down from Hobart and stayed outside and maintained safety while the game proceeded.”\"Ross<\/p>\n

Park was an assistant coach for the state team. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

Debut game sold out<\/p>\n

Tasmania’s passion for pro hoops still burns.<\/p>\n

The Jewels have already set a WNBL membership record of 3,349.<\/p>\n

Two days out from their home opener against Geelong, tickets for the 4,800-capacity MyState Bank Arena have sold out.<\/p>\n

\"he<\/p>\n

Claudia Brassard is getting her team ready for the home opener. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

Jewels coach Claudia Brassard believes in Tasmania, a hype exists that won’t be found anywhere else.<\/p>\n

“It’s really unique to Tasmania. I felt it the first week I was here,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think you can find anything like this across the country. The support we have here is unique.”\"A<\/p>\n

New American export Gianna Kneepkens is one to watch. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

There are stories woven throughout the Jewels inaugural team, like that of centre Keely Froling, whose parents were brought together by basketball.<\/p>\n

Froling’s mum, Jenny, played on the championship Islanders, while Dad, Shane, played with the former men’s NBL team, the Devils.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, she too will represent Tasmania.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Jewels train at a state-of-the-art facility in Hobart’s south. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

Pressure mounts on players to perform<\/p>\n

But amid the emotion and the weight of history, there’s a scramble for the team to get physically ready for the home opener.<\/p>\n

Just over a week out from the Jewels’ first game, Brassard is getting to work, physically instructing her players on how to defensively “wall up” without committing a foul.<\/p>\n

She instructs her players to “walk through” the offensive player.<\/p>\n

“Don’t jump, but wherever she goes, just walk through her,” she tells her chargers.<\/p>\n

“They’ll never call that foul.”\"Two<\/p>\n

The team is feeling the pressure to perform ahead of the home opener.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

Brassard is also dealing with the prospect of her marquee point guard, Australian Opal Steph Reid, being underdone heading into the team’s first game.<\/p>\n

Reid, the Jewels’ offensive engine, spent a chunk of the pre-season in Germany with the national team for the World Cup \u2014 her absence compounded by a grumbly knee that is threatening to impact the early part of her season.<\/p>\n

The Jewels also find themselves in a quandary over Kenyan star Madina Okot, who is currently competing in the WNBA finals with the Atlanta Dream.<\/p>\n

The dilemma: for every game the Dream win, a week with the Jewels is lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The more successful the Dream are, the longer the Jewels must wait for its star to arrive.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Jewels share facilities with mens’ NBL team Tasmania JackJumpers. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n

There’s a sense, too, among the club’s higher-ups that the Jewels largely want for nothing.<\/p>\n

It’s now up to the players to perform.<\/p>\n

Brassard feels that the pressure and the expectation have been earned.<\/p>\n

“We’ve put ourselves in that position. Pressure is good. We embrace it. We focus on the work we’ve done, and we trust the work of ourselves and our teammates,” she said.<\/p>\n

For Park and the legends of yesteryear, it’s a pressure his Islanders could only have dreamed of.<\/p>\n

“They’ve worked so hard for so many months now that they’ll have a good game. They deserve to have a good game,” he said.<\/p>\n

His tips?\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Just play hard. Play together. Have fun. Enjoy it.”<\/p>\n

\"Memorabilia<\/p>\n

The Jewels play against the Geelong Venom on Thursday. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was one of the most rapid declines in Australian sport. In 1991, the Hobart Islanders were champions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":927088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,494402,41286,494401,494400,85,8539,2801,69276],"class_list":["post-927087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-claudia-brassard","tag-debut","tag-hobart-islanders","tag-jewels","tag-sports","tag-tas","tag-tasmania","tag-wnbl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927087","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=927087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}