DEC on Track for JackJumpers Entry

The redevelopment of the Derwent Entertainment Centre (DEC) is on track to be completed for the Tasmania JackJumpers’ entry into the Hungry Jack’s NBL at the start of the 2021/22 Season.

With stage one demolition works of the DEC finished, JackJumpers Chairman Larry Kestelman has declared the developed venue will be ready for tip-off next October.

Kestelman inspected the site in Hobart on Monday alongside Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein, Tasmanian Sports Minister Jane Howlett and JackJumpers CEO Simon Brookhouse.

“We will make sure this venue is up and running for the October start of the season,” Kestelman said. “I would love for the first game of the season to be launched with the new team, that would be amazing.

“We normally start first week of October, COVID will dictate if that continues to be exactly the same but we’re planning for October 1 and we’d love for the JackJumpers to be playing in that opening week here. That would be our number one goal.”

The Premier said Kestelman was a “force of nature” and said he had every confidence the DEC will be ready by next October. “Out of all of the people that I can think of to actually get this job done by October next year, Mr Kestelman is one of the very few in the world that will be able to do it,” he said.

Kestelman added that the DEC won’t just be built as a basketball stadium but to lure “global events” to Tasmania, something the state “absolutely deserves”.

“It is an extraordinarily valuable product for Tasmania. We intend to turn it into the nest for the JackJumpers but much more so into a community place where people can gather and be uplifted and entertained,” he said.

With nearly 2,500 Foundation Members already joining the march, Kestelman is looking forward to growing the sport in Tasmania. “We will not rest until basketball is the number one sport in Tasmania and loved by one and all,” he said.

“It is a family product, it is a product of entertainment and I couldn’t be more proud that we are the first sporting body that took up this opportunity and we are thrilled to be here.”