Can Mat Campbell get Wollongong Hawks basketball into new NBL?
With the proposed new NBL competition raising the financial barriers to entry it looked like there would be no NSW based team in the so called “New NBL” competition (as previously reported in this column). However, a last ditch effort led by Hawks 2008-09 captain, Mat Campbell, has resulted in pledges of 78 foundation memberships ($5000 each) and 1156 season memberships ($250) prior to the NBL’s expression of interest deadline last Friday February 27. This resulted in an Expression of Interest for a new community based Hawks team being submitted before the deadline. Feedback from the “New NBL” is expected in a couple of weeks. Major sponsor ahm has also pledged support. At least the Hawks are in a better position than the other previous Sydney based teams. Sydney Spirit (formerly West Sydney Razorbacks) lost its key financial backer halfway through the season and lost much of its West Sydney fan base due to loss of identity with its previous regional base. Its last home game could only
