Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers were the first Asian-based club in the Australian National Basketball League and joined at the start of the 2006/07 season. The head coach was former West Sydney Razorbacks coach Gordie McLeod and they played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS).

The Slingers were established in 2006, and left the NBL in 2008.

History

The franchise was known as the Canberra Cannons from 1979 to 2003, winning 3 championships in 1983, 1984 and 1988. The Cannons begun to struggle and relocated to Newcastle for three seasons and were known as the Hunter Pirates for the 03-04, 04-05 and 05-06 seasons. The team again relocated to Singapore before the start of the 2006-07 season. However, they also played occasional home games in Newcastle.

The club was the brainchild of NBL stalwart Bob Turner, the Slingers' CEO. The NBL believed the club would open the league to wider audiences and greater revenue. Due to the distance involved the team agreed to cover all travel costs of teams who played them in Singapore. [ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24099559-10914,00.html Slingers quit, 10 remain] ] However, the club had only averaged crowds of only 3500 at its home games during the last season.

The National Basketball League announced on July 29, 2008 that the Singapore Slingers had decided to withdraw from the competition permanently due to the dramatic increase in international travel costs. NBL interim Chief Executive Officer Chuck Harmison said the Slingers had determined the future focus of the team needed to be on participating in competition within its local Asian region, rather than weekly games in Australia and New Zealand. “The Slingers have undertaken a comprehensive internal review of its entire program over the past few months in consultation with its major backer, the Singapore Sports Council,” said Harmison. “The outcome determined that the future of the Slingers lay closer to home, rather than in a league based thousands of kilometres away." [http://news.smh.com.au/sport/singapore-slingers-pull-out-of-nbl-20080729-3mn4.html Singapore Slingers pull out of NBL] ]

The team is now looking at helping set up a proposed Asian professional basketball league, [ [http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20080731-151755/Slingers-Castro-partnership-intact-Asian-Pro-League-up Slingers-Castro partnership intact; Asian Pro League up] ] and will focus on playing other teams in the region. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318397.htm?section=sport Slingers needed NBL help with travel costs] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.singaporeslingers.com Official Website]
* [http://www.nbl.com.au Official National Basketball League Website]