Dione 41 you're half right.
The 10 members clubs were shareholders of BASA which included the 36ers, Lightning and the Dome.
In order for Foley to get some public money back from the tiny loan with huge interest that the then Bannon Labor government gave BASA to build the Dome, the government took back BASA's assets to sell. They were the 36ers, Lightning and the Dome. (This was to build a venue that the State Government needed built in order to bid for the Commonwealth Games. Also was built for the use of netball as well as basketball. Netball then got given a venue of its own.)
The debt never got paid and remained around $18m at the time Foley stepped in. That's it. For a venue that BASA never had the means to pay for and certainly didn't when the government owned and managed Adelaide Entertainment Centre started losing money. So the Government changed the rules and an extreme restriction of trade never before or again implemented on a legal business was placed on the Dome and in return the Government gave BASA $250k a year. (Which as with every cent of income BASA made went to pay for 36ers championship attempts.)
The only thing the member clubs gave up was control of BASA. A new body BSA was formed and in Wayne Jackson's stupidity management of BSA was shared between the clubs (then known as Basketball Adelaide), SA Country, SA Church and what Jackson called 'the independents'.
What Jackson failed to allow for was the fact none of the parties can or want to work with each other. Apart from SA Church and SA Country doing everything they can to destroy Basketball Adelaide's power.
At no point were the local stadiums involved.
Wayville is jointly owed by local Council/Royal Showgrounds.
Pasadena by local council and DECS
Morphett Vale by local council
Marion by local council
Port Adelaide by local council
Hillcrest by local council
MARS by private enterprise
Starplex by Trinity College
The clubs have never owned or managed any of the BASA/BSA stadiums. BASA/BSA has never owned these stadiums. They've always been council owned or partly owed and leased to BASA/BSA.
There is not a single club in Adelaide which is capable of running a stadium and certainly not owning one. None of the clubs have been able to run a Domestic Competition despite many of them being funded/supported by BSA, how are they going to be able to manage an entire venue and everything that comes with it, without BSA?
In my opinion #542 has highlighted one of the problems. SA basketball simply does not have the resources be it stadiums, coaches or referees for the amount of games being played.
SA basketball has dropped in standard from the very top 36ers/Lightning to ABL/ABA/State League through to Juniors, Social and school basketball.
The sport was cool in the early 90s. Attracting bigger numbers and better talent. Now basketball in SA is a minor sport well behind AFL, Netball and Soccer. Naturally the quality is going to drop with it. As is the numbers and quality of support staff (admin, coaches & referees).
The size of the drop could have been avoided through better management but that time has come and gone. Victoria managed to do it because it had a very grassroots focused peak body which was well managed and had a business plan for the growth of the sport that worked and was financially sound. Add to that a State Government and local councils which funded major venue building and upgrades. But NBL in Victoria has gone from 4 teams to 1 and that team's support is extremely limited. Even in Victoria they've struggled with the progression, backwards.
As far as refereeing goes I think its simply unfair to abuse a young referee who is referee above the level he/she should. It's not that referees fault, its the system we have in SA which is to blame. Its the lack of resources committed to refereeing that's to blame. Its the fact most people in basketball see referees as the enemy instead of the other team as the enemy that is to blame. The culture of basketball in this state, especially district is pretty poor in my opinion.
We're not alone in referee abuse. It happens in many sports across many states. But when it comes to basketball we are alone in how we treat officials. We are alone in our arrogance that we are right and they are wrong and I have the right to tell them. We are alone in how bad refereeing numbers are and how that is affecting the game we all love.
But yelling at those that are there isn't the solution.
The million dollar question is, what is?