GRIFFITH Basketball president Damian Curry admitted yesterday if the Demons State League side does not take to the court this weekend it would be the “death knell” of the program.
Curry’s warning comes as the local association desperately tries to assemble a Griffith Demons squad, in the wake of the previous players walking out last weekend in protest of coach Andrew Cullen’s six month suspension.
Under NSW Basketball rules if the Demons forfeit again, after their no-show against the Bathurst Goldminers last round, they will be looking at up to $7000 in fines and refusal for entry into the competition for 2013.
“From our point of view we can either withdraw the State League team but we’re looking at the minimum of $5000 in fines and the loss of our nomination fee, which I understand is about $2000,” Curry said.
“Or we can try and field a team, it may not be competitive, but we can go down that path.
“But if we withdraw, from my speaking with the league coordinator, we wouldn’t be accepted if we nominated again next year.
“We’re frantically looking for people who want to play and are wiling to play, so if there’s anybody out in the community who’s got ability, input or experience then they are welcome to contact the (West End) Stadium and they will be put in contact from me.”
When asked if he saw the previous Demons decision to pull out coming, Curry had a sinking feeling he might get the worse news possible.
“The rumours have been there but I was hoping for a different outcome and I was hoping people would be putting the team first,” he said.
“I found out about it (last) Saturday mid-morning and by then it was too late to get in the car go to Bathurst and make it on time so we had to forfeit that round.”
Making matters tougher for the Griffith Association is the Demons are scheduled to face the Canberra Nationals and Queanbeyan Yowies in a gruelling double-header in the nation’s capital on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s always going to be a nightmare to try and put a group of guys that have not played together before, especially at that level,” Curry admitted.
“But if we can field a team for this double-header this week in Canberra things look a lot more promising, but if we fail to do that then it looks like it will be the death knell for the program.
“There are people out there keen to play, but at the moment our big task is meeting our obligations this weekend, organising players, transport, accommodation.
“It would have been great to have a week to organise things and get some boys running together, so basically we have two options we can withdraw the team and effectively kill our State League program or we can do the best we can and try and build from there.”