By Colin MacGillivray
SEYMOUR Basketball Association will celebrate 50 years of excellence with a season launch featuring high-profile guest speakers this Saturday.
Recently retired AFL player and Seymour product David Mundy will headline the list of speakers at the celebration, which will be at St Marys College Hall on McIntyre Street, Seymour.
Mundy will speak alongside Gabrielle Richards, another Seymour player who attended Kilmore’s Assumption College before playing for the Bendigo Spirit of the Women’s National Basketball League, WNBL, representing Australia internationally at the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, FIBA, World Cup in 2014.
Rounding out the group of guest speakers is Warrick Giddey, a basketball coach and former NBL player for the Melbourne Tigers, whose son Josh currently plays in the United States’ National Basketball Association for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Seymour vice-president Marc Sartori said all three speakers had close links with the association.
“Dave Mundy played here as a junior right up until he got drafted. He won an under 18 championship with us and was coached by our current coach,” he said.
“He’s a local Seymour boy and was a pretty handy basketballer before he was drafted to the AFL, and he’s still mates with some of the boys who play here.
“Gabe Richards is another local who has gone on to play for Australia and in WNBL with the Bendigo Spirit, where she won a number of titles … [and] Warwick Giddey has coached a few of our boys at the Melbourne Tigers in their younger days.”
Sartori said the event would celebrate the history of the association, which began in 1973.
“In the early 1980s basketball was booming and we had no stadium here, so we put together a committee that lobbied the shire to build it for a long time.
“They raised $40,000 as a group to get the ball rolling on a stadium, which was a great effort for a small club.
“Seymour has been very strong since about 2005. We haven’t missed a finals series in 20 years and we’ve played in 14 grand finals, so we’ve got a strong and rich history.”
During the evening the club will unfurl men’s and women’s championship banners from the 2021-22 Country Basketball League season, as well as special 50th anniversary uniforms.
Doors for the function open at 5.30pm on Saturday for a 6pm start. Tickets are $75 each and cover entry and a two-course meal, with drinks at bar prices.
People can visit sba50thanniversary.eventbee.com to purchase tickets online or Sartori’s Panel Works at 19 Emily Street, Seymour to buy them in person.
