The SKYCITY Breakers today confirmed their 2012/13 pre-season campaign will be highlighted by two games in the South Island, with games set for Christchurch and Dunedin in mid-September 2012.
General Manager Richard Clarke made the announcement today while in Christchurch on a goodwill visit to the City. SKYCITY Breakers players, coaches and management spent time in the city mixing with the public at Cashel Mall and Northlands Mall and helped mentor Canterbury age group sides in coaching clinics.
Clarke says there is a genuine excitement within the group about a return visit later in the year to play some basketball.
“We have been trying to get to the South Island for some time to repay the loyalty of supporters down here and helping Canterbury Basketball in difficult times. While we are an Auckland based team, we see our responsibility as very much a nationwide one in terms of promoting the game and our club values.
“It is also important that we play a part in helping rebuild the city of Christchurch and while we can’t help directly with bricks and mortar, we can do something to help the morale of the community by bringing the Australian Basketball League to town, albeit in pre-season mode.
“The games will be as close to the full production as we can muster against a full strength Wollongong Hawks team that is extremely competitive against the SKYCITY Breakers. We will bring our full roster on the road and not only play two games but also look to spend some time in the community with schools and local basketball programmes.”
The pre-season is also likely to include a return to Hamilton where a sold out game was held at the new Claudelands Arena last year; with details expected in the coming weeks. Clarke says pre-season is a chance to showcase the team and the league to different parts of the country.
“We get requests from many different regions to visit and pre-season is the chance for us to do that. We were well received in both Tauranga and Hamilton last year and we are looking forward to playing in Christchurch and Dunedin later this year.
“The pre-season tour also gives the players the chance to get into the local communities, visit schools and run some basketball clinics for promising young players in these regions, which is a big part of everyday life as a SKYCITY Breaker and taking these games on the road is a chance for us to continue that work in those regions too.”
The Breakers concluded their day that started with a tour of the Red Zone with a donation to Canterbury Basketball, consisting of coaching resource and material, basketballs and cash. The donation will assist Canterbury Basketball to recover from the effects of the earthquakes as they continue to deliver programmes at all levels of the game to the region.
Full details of the games and community work during the pre-season tour, including ticketing and venues will be made available over the course of the next few weeks.
