Canberra Capitals basketball team 'homeless' with no location to play finals in ACT

The Canberra Capitals have been left «homeless» for finals games this season, with team members and management questioning if professional men's teams would have found themselves in the same position.

The Capitals have played their home games at Canberra's National Conventional Centre Canberra (NCCC) this season, but general manager Lucille Bailie said there was little availability for dates for the finals, which run from March 23 to April 9.

In a meeting this morning, Capitals players and management voiced concerns that the lack of a home court could impact future sponsors and player recruitment.

«It's most likely that most of our finals games in the current season will need to be relocated to Wollongong or interstate, due to a lack of availability at the NCCC and quite simply the absence of any other suitable venue here in our home town,» Ms Bailie said.

«This is a major threat to the UC Caps and the momentum that we have worked so hard to create and deliver over so many years.»

The Canberra Capitals had to move to the National Convention Centre after the AIS Arena was closed in June 2020 for repairs — something neither the federal or ACT governments have yet committed to fund.

The AIS Arena is now also being used as a mass-vaccination hub by the ACT government.

Ms Bailie said while grand final games at the AIS Arena attracted about 5,000 spectators, the National Convention Centre could only accommodate 1,700.

In 2020, the University of Canberra capitals won their ninth Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) championship. 

But club captain, Kelsey Griffin, has questioned whether a premiership-winning team would have been left without a location to play finals in men's codes of sport. 

«Has it happened to the Brumbies or