THE Logan Thunder will not contest the 2014-15 Women's National Basketball League season after withdrawing its submission for a team.
The team had been struggling to get sponsors secured for the upcoming season, with its licence submission relying heavily on a radical funding model involving considerable community-sourced funds.
Basketball Australia was impressed by the team's community commitment but required guarantees of sponsorship, something the Thunder was unable to provide by the allotted deadlines.
Head coach Jason Chainey confirmed the team's withdrawal in an email this morning, saying he was disappointed to say the least in the outcome.
"We as a working committee were very confident of our submission and thought that with over half of our sponsorship secured and a very clear strategy of community engagement that we were actually in a better position then some other teams in the league," he said.
"However, Basketball Australia made our licence subject to some further criteria in a short space of time and after an email from (Basketball Australia chair) Scott Derwin on the weekend we made the decision that we were unable to successfully get this over the line in the allotted time that was required.
"Although very saddened by this, I think this needs to act as a motivator for all of us in Basketball to bind together to ensure that we work stringently on getting a team back on the court for the 2015/2016 season."
Chainey thanked everyone who had helped the Thunder to date said the situation was not necessarily the end of the line for the team.
"As mentioned earlier although this is not a great outcome, it is important to remember that it is not the end and we need to work together to get a great program back on the floor for 2015-2016," he said.
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