As a member of the Board of the Committee for Greater Hobart, I am passionate about ensuring that every person in the region has an equal opportunity to embrace, enjoy and live the life they deserve.
It takes strong leadership to achieve change, but it takes a united community to build that change from the ground up and support it through to success.
I have had the privilege of witnessing this first-hand as inaugural Chair of the Tasmania JackJumpers.
In 2020, most Tasmanians had never heard of Scott Roth, and only knew jackjumpers as insects with a venomous sting that could cause major issues for those with anaphylaxis.
Fast forward four years and the Tasmanian community has been taken on a fairytale journey of passion and purpose that culminated last week with a National Basketball League (NBL) Championship for our island state.
It was Australian entrepreneur and NBL owner Larry Kestelman who first ignited the dream for Tasmania to return to the national basketball stage.
In 2020, that dream started to become real when Tassie was awarded a licence to start playing in the 2021-22 season.
But there was a lot of work still to be done to get there. What then went on behind the scenes was as tactical as any game preparation.
Tasmania is known for ‘punching above its weight’ when it comes to sporting talent. However, with a small population, a highly competitive market, and a regular north-south divide, the state’s newest sporting franchise needed something special to succeed in building a brand that captured the hearts and minds of all Tasmanians.
Cue the appointment by Kestelman of inaugural CEO Simon Brookhouse and Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Christine Finnegan, who is now the club’s CEO, both of whom have extensive experience in sporting administration in Victoria.
The pair, with Kestelman, started a targeted campaign to recruit the franchise’s Board, as well as a coach who could not only build a team that would dominate on-court, but help build a following that would unite the Tasmanian community behind them.
At that time Roth was lead assistant coach at the Perth Wildcats, another highly successful NBL franchise with a deeply passionate following. He’d been overlooked the previous year for the head coach role when the Wildcats re-signed Trevor Gleeson for another three years. But he was still holding on to the dream of leading a team to NBL glory.
Along with the Executive and the Board, he wanted to create something that lasted well beyond the cycle of a sporting team. Something that would make Tasmanians as passionate about the imported players as they are about their home-grown talent.
For this was not Tasmania’s first time in the NBL. Many of us remember the Hobart Devils’ 13-year run in the 80s and 90s, and the short-lived but Championship-winning run of the Launceston Casino City team from 1980-1982. The state also has a long history of basketball success interstate as well as national representation.
But with limited pathways to develop players in recent years, Roth and the Executive knew that the inaugural JackJumpers team would be predominantly made up of interstate and international players (in fact, Sam McDaniel was the only player with a Tasmanian connection in their first year).
They also knew Tasmanians were very savvy when it came to their allegiances, and weren’t going to connect with something ‘flashy’ or ‘just for show’. And so the focus was on building the brand, values, the culture and the community first, as the franchise’s authentic centre.
Roth spent six months travelling the state, learning about our rich basketball history, what makes our communities tick, and winning hearts and minds, before a player was even signed.
And so he looked for those qualities in the players he recruited for the inaugural line-up. Players who were coming back from injury. Or struggling to get time on-court. Or were heading to the twilight of their careers. Players the supporters could identify with, look up to, and cheer on in their success.
In another stroke of genius from Roth, he created the Tasmania Bloodlines Group concept to build on the strong foundation of the state’s basketball history.
With names such as Mark Nash, Kathy Foster, Anthony Stewart and Donna Mitchell, there are currently 23 Bloodlines members across all facets of the sport who have connected Tasmania’s basketball legacy to its future. Their visibility in supporting the JackJumpers has helped strengthen that connection.
In just three seasons the Tasmania JackJumpers have not only made sporting history, appearing in the finals all three seasons and winning the Championship, but have also been recognised as the most successful sporting franchise in Australian history.
Not bad for a little island at the bottom of a very large country.
And something we can all learn from in taking the time to discover what community means to people, how to inspire them, and how, united, we can achieve anything.
If you are interested in joining us to develop a plan for the future liveability of Greater Hobart, enquire about membership today.
