Ceo gives thunder's new home a big tick

A first look at the inside of the sports centre.

Photo supplied.

NEW Basketball Australia (BA) CEO, Larry Sengstock, has described the Logan Thunder's new home, the Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre, as a “terrific venue” and predicts a big future ahead for the Women's National Basketball League's (WNBL) newest franchise.

Sengstock's positive assessment came after his first visit to Logan (since taking over the demanding job back in April) during a recent 'meet and greet' trip to south-east Queensland.

“It was a good opportunity to get around and catch up with different constituents like Basketball Queensland, but also the Logan Thunder WNBL team,” he said.

“During a workshop in Sydney, Mark Dalton (Thunder general manager) was talking about the new stadium and I was looking forward to coming up and having a look for myself.”

Last Tuesday, Sengstock and BA general manager of commercial operations, Dominic Teakle, were taken for a grand tour of the near finished $17 million stadium by BDS managing director, David Kemp, Logan City Council indoor sport centres manager, Gary Campbell and Dalton.

Despite completion still being two months away, Sengstock was impressed with what he saw.

“I like it. I think it is a terrific venue and fantastic for basketball and caters for lots of sports, but most specifically the Thunder,” he said.

“It makes it much more pleasant for spectators and to play in and it's also going to make it much easier for setting up for game day.

“The floor is now down in the main stadium and I believe it is almost ready to play in and will be finished in time for the upcoming season.”

Sengstock added that the Thunder organisation deserved a pat on the back for their achievements on and off the court during their first season in the elite national competition.

“I think it is a difficult thing to get a new team up and running, but talking to Mark, the club has further advanced since last season and are looking good heading into this season,” he said.

“The club has now a year under its belt and have learnt some lessons in the ways to do things they weren't able to do last season.”