THE Chisholm Earthmoving Junior Invitational will bring record numbers of young basketballers to Swan Hill this weekend.
A bumper 13th edition of the event sees 100 teams scheduled to play matches from dawn until dark tomorrow and all day Sunday.
Organisers have again turned to the Lake Boga Community Centre to help with the huge program, with about 12 matches scheduled in the facility for the first time in a couple of years.
Swan Hill Basketball Association junior tournament director Paul Morrison said he hoped the spike in interest would be matched elsewhere.
“We think it reflects the popularity of basketball picking up again which would be good,” he said.
Associations from Wangaratta, Echuca, Warracknabeal, Castlemaine, Bendigo, Shepparton, Seymour, Deniliquin, Wodonga and Mildura will all be represented with conservative estimates suggesting as many as 3000 people will book out accommodation in town and as far away as Tooleybuc.
Morrison said local interest in the sport was probably spiked by having former local Tessa Lavey’s involvement in the recent women’s World Championships.
“I think definitely with Tessa doing so well it must have some influence,” he said.
The first grand final is scheduled to take place at 1pm on Sunday, with presentations to start at about 2pm.
