Latest news with #WNBL
ABC News
08-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Adelaide's WNBL team saved by SA government but no guarantees on 'Lightning' name
Adelaide will continue to have a presence in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) after the league's new owners today announced a partnership with the SA government to keep the team alive. The Lightning has won five championships since entering the league, The WNBL was recently taken over by a new ownership group, which has said its priorities include the financial sustainability of clubs and the growth of the game. Amid the league's decision to decline Lightning owner Pelligra's request to continue in the league, the government has stepped in to support the league in a transition to new ownership. Steph Talbot is one of Adelaide's best players. ( Getty Images: Graham Denholm ) The SA government will provide $571,000 to the club per year over the next three years. Premier Peter Malinauskas said the Adelaide Lightning was a team synonymous with success and the government would not have allowed it to fold. "As soon as we heard that news as a state government, we got to work with engaging with the WNBL and basketball more broadly in our state to see if we can't come up with a solution that ensures that the next season of the WNBL has the Adelaide Lightning competing as it always has," he said. "To be honest, in my mind, that was always going to be true. "There wasn't a set of circumstances where as a government we were going to tolerate the Adelaide Lightning not continuing within the WNBL. "It is also important in inspiring the younger generation of young female basketballers to continue to participate." Former general manager Steve Wren said he wanted to ensure the Lightning remained part of the WNBL. ( ABC News: Guido Salazar ) WNBL chief executive Jennie Sager said today's announcement was the first step in rebuilding the team in South Australia. "We couldn't be happier that from the minute we reached out to the government, that support was there and that door was open," she said. "It's absolutely a partnership that needed to happen to keep the Lightning here. "Right now our intention is to look for new owners over the next three years. "For now the club will be run between the WNBL and that current ownership and the government." The Adelaide Lightning is a five-time champion club. ( Getty Images: Mark Evans ) The agreement will also see the team train at the newly opened $88 million South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) headquarters. The team will have access to office space, a gym and court as well as medical and physiotherapy support. The state government will also provide $300,000 over three years to deliver community-based programs for junior basketball to provide a pathway for girls to play at the elite level. Former WNBL and Adelaide Lightning champion basketballer Rachael Sporn. ( ABC News ) Adelaide Lightning legend and former Australian Opals player Rachael Sporn said she was relieved to know the club will have a future in the competition after a tumultuous week. "It's so wonderful to hear we have security now," Sporn said. "We've been in the league since its inception in 1981 and I'm so relieved and grateful that it will continue well into the future. " Playing in the WNBL and Adelaide Lightning was my pathway to representing my country. " Pelligra still owns intellectual property Although Adelaide's presence in the competition has been confirmed, there is no guarantee the Adelaide Lightning name will survive. Adelaide's Isobel Borlase represents the side and also plays for Australia's national team. ( Basketball Australia ) As it stands, former owners still own the intellectual property of the Lightning name. However, the premier is confident that issue will be resolved. "I don't think there's a set a circumstances where there's not an Adelaide Lightning," he said. "Credit to the Pelligra Group, they have a lot of interest in sports around the world and have made a significant contribution here in South Australia. "Knowing Steve Wren and Ross and Paul Pelligra like I do, these are good people who enjoy sports. "I'll be stunned if we don't see the Adelaide Lightning name continue in perpetuity." He said beyond the three-year agreement with the state government, he's confident in the long-term future of the club. "This is a team that's got a proven track record of success, rebuilding that culture I think can happen relatively quickly with a right new owner."
Sydney Morning Herald
07-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Fearful of sneezing': How this Australian star came back from spinal fusion and a broken leg
WNBL champion Sara Blicavs knew something was wrong with her body. The 188-centimetre basketballer was losing mobility. Much smaller point guards were starting to push her out of the key, and off the court she was unable to pick up her three-year-old nephew. She ploughed on, desperate to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics with the Opals after getting a taste as an emergency substitute on the bronze medal-winning team in Tokyo. The source of her pain was bilateral spinal fractures – cracks coming from both directions that met in the middle of her vertebra. The fractures caused movement that eroded the spinal disc away and left bone scraping on bone. It meant she gave up her Paris dream and underwent a spinal fusion. After more than a year's rehabilitation, she returned for the Opals on Wednesday night against New Zealand in Adelaide in an 18-point win over the Tall Ferns. The 32-year-old said she had been so focused on the Olympics, she had blocked out the pain. Doctors later discovered she had also been playing basketball on a fracture in her tibia for months. 'You do end up kind of throwing your pain in the back of your head, and I was managing because I just wasn't thinking about it. You choose to completely switch off that part of your brain, and ignore any sign,' she said in an interview with the Victorian Institute of Sport. 'I had a broken leg as well as a broken back.' The injuries took a toll. She had pins and needles down her right leg for half an hour after one game, and in a separate incident was bedridden for days after her back seized when trying to get up off the ground while sunbathing. But it was only when she decided to have surgery that she realised the extent of her injury.
Sydney Morning Herald
07-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Blicavs and the bionic back: How this Australian star came back from a spinal fusion
WNBL champion Sara Blicavs knew something was wrong with her body. The 188-centimetre basketballer was losing mobility. Much smaller point guards were starting to push her out of the key, and off the court she was unable to pick up her three-year-old nephew. She ploughed on, desperate to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics with the Opals after getting a taste as an emergency substitute on the bronze medal-winning team in Tokyo. The source of her pain was bilateral spinal fractures – cracks coming from both directions that met in the middle of her vertebra. The fractures caused movement that eroded the spinal disc away and left bone scraping on bone. It meant she gave up her Paris dream and underwent a spinal fusion. After more than a year's rehabilitation, she returns for the Opals on Wednesday night against New Zealand in Adelaide. The 32-year-old said she had been so focused on the Olympics, she had blocked out the pain. Doctors later discovered she had also been playing basketball on a fracture in her tibia for months. 'You do end up kind of throwing your pain in the back of your head, and I was managing because I just wasn't thinking about it. You choose to completely switch off that part of your brain, and ignore any sign,' she said in an interview with the Victorian Institute of Sport. 'I had a broken leg as well as a broken back.' The injuries took a toll. She had pins and needles down her right leg for half an hour after one game, and in a separate incident was bedridden for days after her back seized when trying to get up off the ground while sunbathing. 'All the pain just flushed back in,' she said. 'I couldn't stand up ... I was fearful of sneezing at that point. I couldn't bend forward to pick a basketball up.'
The Age
07-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Blicavs and the bionic back: How this Australian star came back from a spinal fusion
WNBL champion Sara Blicavs knew something was wrong with her body. The 188-centimetre basketballer was losing mobility. Much smaller point guards were starting to push her out of the key, and off the court she was unable to pick up her three-year-old nephew. She ploughed on, desperate to attend the 2024 Paris Olympics with the Opals after getting a taste as an emergency substitute on the bronze medal-winning team in Tokyo. The source of her pain was bilateral spinal fractures – cracks coming from both directions that met in the middle of her vertebra. The fractures caused movement that eroded the spinal disc away and left bone scraping on bone. It meant she gave up her Paris dream and underwent a spinal fusion. After more than a year's rehabilitation, she returns for the Opals on Wednesday night against New Zealand in Adelaide. The 32-year-old said she had been so focused on the Olympics, she had blocked out the pain. Doctors later discovered she had also been playing basketball on a fracture in her tibia for months. 'You do end up kind of throwing your pain in the back of your head, and I was managing because I just wasn't thinking about it. You choose to completely switch off that part of your brain, and ignore any sign,' she said in an interview with the Victorian Institute of Sport. 'I had a broken leg as well as a broken back.' The injuries took a toll. She had pins and needles down her right leg for half an hour after one game, and in a separate incident was bedridden for days after her back seized when trying to get up off the ground while sunbathing. 'All the pain just flushed back in,' she said. 'I couldn't stand up ... I was fearful of sneezing at that point. I couldn't bend forward to pick a basketball up.'
The Advertiser
29-04-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Australia's female stars set for huge pay rise in historic moment
An MVP early in her WNBL career, Tess Madgen earned just $4000 with the Bendigo Spirit in 2010.
