Media Release
Hoopcity Magazine: to promote
the game and inspire
Posted: Thursday 3rd April 2008
Article by Jason Dawson

There's a new basketball magazine that has just come out in Australia called Hoopcity. It will be covering all aspects of the game; from the NBA, NBL, WNBL, College hoops and up-and-coming local players. Hoopcity intends to be more than a pro-basketball magazine, it's goal of being "the voice of basketball" is what seperates Hoopcity from many other magazines today.

Hoopcity joins Handle as the only two Australian-based basketball magazines in the country. The last time Australia had more than one basketball magazine circulating, it was 1998. 'One-on-One' and 'Jammin' magazines were both Australian-based hoops publications that linked the NBA and NBL personalities to the fans. Many people still refer to 'One-on-One' magazine as the best thing that ever happened to the NBL in the 90s. Not only were people coming to watch the games, but when they would go home, 'One-on-One' magazine brought the voice of the game to their living room. As the sport gradually lost it's stature in Australia, it resulted in the demise of both these national publications as they struggled to maintain advertising support.

"You could have the greatest league with the greatest players in the world, but if the general public don't know about it, or if the fans don't know the players, it wouldn't succeed." Hoopcity's David Coles believes. "If the game in Australia and the NBL is to successfully reach its potential, we need to promote the players personalities, share their stories and push the game into the national media at every possible opportunity. This is the reason why we decided to come out with Hoopcity; if the media weren't going to cover the game as it deserved to be covered, then we, the basketball community, needed to create our own media."

Hoopcity will often refer to the term "we" meaning the basketball community. The team behind the magazine have said that Hoopcity is an "open-community magazine", which means that the contributions, suggestions, feedback and support from all involved in the game will help move Hoopcity, and the sport, in the right direction.

The magazine's philosophy is to "cover local stories and players that would usually go unspoken, provide a quality and affordable basketball magazine for all ages, and at the end of each article, we want readers to feel inspired. We want readers to drop the mag and head out to the courts to work on their game, or take their friends and family out to an NBL or WNBL game."

Hoopcity is currently only available through basketball stadiums across Australia that are willing. Kickz101 basketball store in Melbourne is also where you can get your copy. The philosophy is to raise funds and support the local associations as $1 from each magazine sold will go towards that association where it was purchased. Several major associations have already teamed up with Hoopcity; Dandenong and Werribee in Melbourne, Bankstown and Beaton Park in NSW and Southern Districts in QLD. "We hope that more local associations across Australia will continue to be a part of this new initiative that not only promotes the game, but will help raise funds to support the great work that local associations do for the game."

Hoopcity is also available online at Hoopcity.com.au

Andre Gorgievski from Hoopcity believes that "basketball in Australia needs its fans and supporters more than ever right now. A lot of people think that the game's biggest problem starts with the lack of sponsors and money, but the truth is, that will all come once the basketball community comes together, does their part to promote the game, supports the NBL and WNBL, and prove how many people in Australia truly love this game."



Issue 01: Available now online here