Basketball WA Competitions Manager Christian Rice says the State Basketball League supports in principle the possible return of the Albany Raiders to the competition.

Speculation in Albany suggests the Raiders, who competed in the league until 1999, will attempt to return to the SBL in the foreseeable future and Rice said that would help grow basketball and the league, which already has teams from Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Bunbury.

But Rice said there was still a huge amount of work to be done and the return of the Raiders would likely be at least a few years away.

"We're definitely open to the prospect of the Raiders coming back into the league," he said.

"There is no timeframe, but it's very unlikely to happen for next year.

"At this stage, no discussions have taken place with anyone from Albany Basketball Association about what their plans are and what the timeframe is in terms of getting them back into the league.

"We need some information from Albany on what their plans are and what structures they have in place. We'd like to see where they're at in terms of their development as a club on-court too."

The prospects of the reintroduction of an Albany side were boosted by the tremendous turnout when Perth Redbacks played Mandurah Magic in the city in July, which the SBL was encouraged by.

"Based on the other elements, in terms of country week starting in Perth for all of the high schools and the absolutely terrible weather down in Albany, to get 500 people to the game is very impressive," Rice said.

"There was very good support from the community and there does seem to be a growing interest from the people in Albany to have an SBL team again."

Rice said city's new facilities were definitely of SBL standard, but there were other problems the Albany Basketball Association could face in their attempts to bring the Raiders back.

"Having a country team is an extremely strong commitment and it takes a lot of effort from a lot of people," he said.

"To put a country team on the floor takes a lot more money than it does from a metro perspective, in terms of the travel and the recruitment of players."

The potential addition of another team brings forward several question marks, such as whether the season would be expanded with the MSBL growing to 15 teams and whether the Raiders would also compete in the WSBL.

But Rice said those issues would be discussed in due course.

"I'd suggest that the league wouldn't be looking to remove any teams if there was interest in Albany, but we'll discuss that when we see something from Albany," he said.

"The league has had a longer season in the past and we've also had shorter seasons. The clubs are very supportive of anything that's in the interest of basketball and in particular, regional basketball.

"Historically speaking, it'll probably just be a men's team. But a discussion would have to take place at the SBL Commission level to determine that."

Article by Jacob Kagi

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