WEST End Stadium will host some of the best female basketball players in the country on the back of the news the Sydney Flames and Dandenong Rangers WNBL sides will call Griffith home as part of a three-day visit in September.
The exciting news is set to bring national attention to the city, as two heavyweights of the national competition look to wrap up their preparation for the season ahead.
There will be no shortage of stars in the city during the whirlwind visit, but perhaps the biggest -also in a literal sense -is 193 centremetre centre Suzy Batkovic-Brown.
Since debuting with the national side in 1999, Batkovic-Brown has won two Olympic silver medals, the Basketball Australia International Female Player of the Year title in 2002 and has played in the WNBA in America with the Seattle Storm.
Organising committee spokesman Lou Testoni said the impact of the side's visit on the local game could not be underestimated, with local officials hoping the pre-season fixture would act as a lightning rod for people of all ages to the game.
"Lono (Sydney Flames assistant coach Peter Lonergan) brought the idea to us to about a month ago. He said the clubs had an option of bringing this pre-season game out into the country somewhere and they thought about bringing it here, because it's about half-way between the sides," Testoni said.
"It's also great for the Murrumbidgee area. It needs a big lift and bringing this sort of thing to the area will not only lift the profile of the game in Griffith, but the surrounding area as well."
Griffith has been given a taste of top-flight basketball in the past, with the Sydney Kings and Canberra Cannons playing in the early 1990s followed by the Australian Opals women's team playing a trial game in the early 2000s.
"They took this game to Goulburn last year, and it wasn't a good facility and they didn't get many people last year, and it wasn’t a good facility and they didn’t get many people supporting it, Lono said. At least out here, it will be a spectacle and people will get behind it,” Testoni said.
“With the economic climate we’re in, not many people can afford to travel and see things like this, but we’re bringing the game here.”
With an average crowd of more than 250 at Griffith Demon State League basketball games, Testoni said there was no reason West End Stadium couldn’t be full to capacity for the game – with crowds upwards of 1000 previously seen at the facility.
Basketball fans are set to have plenty of opportunities to meet their heroes and snare a signature, with two games and training runs allowing people to see the sides go through their paces. A training clinic for children and possible school visits are also on the cards.
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