LOXTON’S oldest basketball club is reminiscing about its history in the Riverland as it prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary this October.
The Loxton Amateur Basketball Association (LABA), which is home to the Supercats and Juniorcats, established its roots in the town back in 1949.
Since then, it has gone on to win more than 50 premierships and make a name for itself in the Riverland league.
“It’s a wonderful milestone that I think many sporting clubs would be proud to celebrate,” said Kathy Schliebs, Loxton Amateur Basketball Association committee member.
“We thought it was a pretty special occasion and certainly with the build of the new rec centre here in Loxton, we thought it was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the milestone.”
Ms Schliebs said it was important to recognise the club’s long history and the people have been instrumental to its success.
She said the organisation should be thankful for previous members for establishing such a proud club.
“The Bartsch family in particular were very instrumental in setting up the basketball association in its hay day,” Ms Schliebs said.
“It’s an interesting to look at the history where they started from and the facilities that they made use of through to the seventies when the rec centre was built in conjunction with the Show society.
“When Merv Bartsch, who was the main instigator, passed away a couple of years ago, he left a considerable legacy to the basketball association, which has meant that some of the add-ons in the new rec centre are a result of that legacy.
“There’s also a couple of people that I’ve spoken to who are in their 80s and still alive, and still have a bit of history to share, which is rather special.”
Juniorcats committee member and coach Greg Coombs, who used to play for the Men’s A grade ‘Eagles’ side, said having more knowledge of the history of Loxton basketball meant the anniversary was important to him.
He said the Loxton club, and Riverland basketball in general, has come a long way, and he could not wait for everyone to see the changes when the club has a formal celebration next year.
“Over the years, you can see Loxton does dominate in the local Riverland competition in the juniors, and if we don’t, we’re usually not far off that,” Mr Coombs said.
“It’s a reflection of how it’s been run by the Loxton sporting community.
“Once people get to know the history of it, when it first started, everyone will be impressed.”
Due to COVID-19, the LABA has postponed its formal celebrations until March 2021.
However, Ms Schliebs invites anyone with club memorabilia to “bring it out of the mothballs” to help celebrate the club’s milestone later this year.