Life Member Stories Yvonne White
My favourite moments -
In 1998 there were 2 seasons as the National Basketball League decided to play “Summer” basketball. The early season was to finish in May and the Hawks last game of the season was against Townsville Suns at home.
To celebrate the end of the season and the end of the Snakepit as the Hawks beloved home, an event was created as a farewell to the Snakepit. It was full to capacity, if the truth be known, it was very much over the legal capacity.
The Hawks won a great game that was televised live by ABC.
They cut off to enable them to go to their scheduled programme, (which earned them a lot of criticism,) but fortunately the cameras kept rolling and the completion of the game and the on court celebrations were captured and replayed at a later stage.
Among the streamers and tickertape a lone piper crossed the floor playing Auld Lang Syne, there were tears shed as the many volunteers and supporters came to terms with the fact that this was the end of an era.
After the game a dinner was held on the back courts for 720 loyal followers.
The excitement of playing in the semi and grand-final series in 2000-01 built up over a period of 3-4 weeks, it was such a day to day event. The team qualified for playoffs in 4th position.
They approached every game with determination and the will to win in memory of their Team Manager – David Leskie, who unfortunately passed away during the season.
It was such a buzz to be involved in the administration side, with every win there was more to do to prepare for the next game.
The final game in Townsville was shown live on a huge screen in the WEC with thousands of supporters attending on the Sunday afternoon.
The game looked all but gone with a couple of minutes to go, but the team managed to keep their cool and make it a fantastic, come from behind, WIN.
The atmosphere in the centre was just as if it was a home game.
The team travelled straight from the airport via the northern suburbs where fans lined the streets to welcome them home, arriving back in Wollongong around 6.00pm on the Monday evening.
One of the many “favourite moments” was being part of the celebrations as the entire team were introduced to the huge crowd, again, in the WIN Entertainment Centre on their return to Wollongong, bring such pleasure to so many of the Wollongong Community.
