The announcement that the Canterbury Crusaders Rugby team have been forced to move their home matches outside Christchurch City comes as no surprise, given the recent seismic activity. The Canterbury Cougars Men’s Basketball team forfeiting this year’s national competition was also unsurprising- but for very different reasons. Neither team is playing in Christchurch this season “due to the earthquake”. The Crusaders home ground resembles a sandpit- they cannot play there due to the same safety concerns which have left Christchurch without a single Rugby World Cup game. Yet the boys charge on, delivering some inspiration and wholesome entertainment as a welcome distraction for Cantabrians.
The Cougars playing facility on the other hand, was not damaged. Due to financial difficulties at their last venue, Cowles Stadium, the Cougars have moved to the new Lincoln Community Centre complex, due to be completed this month. With an 800 person seat capacity and brand new gym facilities, the complex would have been a great platform for the Cougars to reinvigorate a franchise which has struggled in its opening years. Instead, the owners of the Cougars- Amy and Andrew Gardiner, blamed the earthquake for making it too difficult for the team play this year.
Wait a minute, why is it too hard to carry on due to the earthquake? I’m scratching my head. Your facilities are not damaged, they’re in a growing, wealthy area of Christchurch and you have a University, which is functioning fine since the earthquake, 10min WALK from the stadium. No, the reason for dismantling the team was not because of the earthquake but because of the financial failings of the owners. Two years ago the Cougars replaced the old Canterbury Rams franchise in the National Basketball League and have been beset by financial problems ever since. Cougars management still owes $20,000 to the Christchurch City Council for use of Cowles Stadium from last season. They have also lost theirs franchise player, former Tall Black Paora Winitana who didn’t see the situation improving any time soon.
Canterbury, known to be a proud and sports- mad region, deserves a major basketball team that is not so financially precarious that it collapses at the first shake. Why is it that smaller NBL franchises like Taranaki and Otago are more successful at maintaining an NBL team in both on and off the court? It’s because we have more sports teams and a wider variety of entertainment, you say? Maybe... but not right now. This is the point I am making; the current situation in Christchurch has left the residents sorely in need of inspiration. We have no events or teams functioning because of damage to facilities and infrastructure. This should be a dream come true for the cash stricken Cougars. With the Crusaders having no home matches and there being no CBD to go clubbing in for the foreseeable future, the people of Christchurch are going to want to be entertained instead of sitting home and watching seasons 60 and 65 of Survivor and American Idol.
The Cougars could grab a new fan base this season and make some money for a change, with little local competition. With Lincoln University so close and Canterbury University 20mins drive away you have two large potential fan bases as well as people who want to be and need to be entertained this year. I just don’t understand it, it’s like they were looking for any excuse not to play this season to save themselves money. The sad thing is that when Christchurch needs the team more than anytime before, management have decided to can the season even though the situation could have been a win-win for everyone. Our city just lost the chance of some relief from these hard times and the opportunity to show just how great a province Canterbury is when it comes to supporting local sports teams. With the organisers of the Rugby World Cup leaving us in the lurch, we really could have done with well run team playing a popular sport in a widely publicised national competition. The Cougars franchise have put the season in a too hard basket and therefore missed a golden opportunity, I guess they truly are pussies.
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