On Wed 9th April '25, club members heard from Neville Ivey, CEO of Basketball Ballarat.

Neville hails from Maryborough and has lived and worked in Ballarat for over 30 years. He has a diverse background that includes the Royal Australian Navy, General Motors, Director at Ballarat City council and has had experience as a small business owner.

Nev spoke to us about the domestic basketball competition in Ballarat. We learnt that there are over 640 teams and over 6 thousand participants with an annual growth of 9%. Basketball Ballarat has over 10 major events a year that draw in over 8,000 participants and over 31,000 spectators which is more that the 2 x AFL games at Mars stadium. This program is estimated to generate over $20 Million economic activity in the city.

It’s not just about the $ though as there are many community programs such as school visits, various basketball programs and programs such as walking hoops. Basketball Ballarat also has a foundation raising much needed money for local programs to support equal participation from all sectors of the community through subsidized fees and Pink Week (approx. $15,000 raised for these two initiatives). Basketball Ballarat has also sent clothing and donations to the Anaro Project in Timor Leste - similar to what we do with our Ambon project.

It’s clear that Basketball in Ballarat is very engaged in our city and not just provides a place for sport but brings economic activity and is highly engaged in the community.