Changes to the Flames WNBL20 schedule
Basketball Australia (BA) has today released the revised fixture for the 2020 Chemist Warehouse WNBL season.
These changes were necessary due to the Adelaide Lightning travelling party having to self-isolate until Monday 23 November, based upon directives from Queensland Health in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia.
Originally, all eight WNBL teams were scheduled to play 14 regular season games across the condensed 6-week season out of a North Queensland hub (Cairns, Mackay and Townsville) from November 11 – December 20.
Prioritising athlete welfare and wellbeing while ensuring the integrity of the league, BA has confirmed that each team will play 13 regular season games by December 14, prior to the four game Finals Series commencing on December 16.
Upon confirming the changes to the season fixture, BA Head of Women in Basketball Lauren Jackson AO said, “When approaching the need to revise the 2020 season fixture, Basketball Australia prioritised the welfare of all eight teams plus the importance of maintaining the fairness and integrity of the competition.
“Working collaboratively with the WNBL Commission, the clubs, Australian Basketball Players’ Association and our broadcast partners, we have landed on a 56-game regular season fixture where all teams play 13 regular season games. This has led to the cancellation of four games and a further eight games being rescheduled.
“We would especially like to thank the Queensland Government, Tourism and Events Queensland, the City of Townsville and Cairns Regional Council for their support during this process.
“Once again, the WNBL has demonstrated that whatever challenges are thrown our way in 2020, our stakeholder group continue to work as one to deliver a season during an incredibly important period for Australian women’s basketball.
“On behalf of Basketball Australia, I would like to thank everyone involved in this process for their pragmatic approach and thank the fans for their patience as we confirmed the revised fixture,” concluded Jackson.
Based upon the original season fixture, the following four (4) games have now been deleted as part of the revised 2020 fixture:
- UC Capitals vs Brydens Sydney Uni Flames, 5.00pm local, November 25 at Cairns Pop-Up Arena
- Adelaide Lightning vs JCU Townsville Fire, 8.00pm local, November 26 at Cairns Pop-Up Arena
- Deakin Melbourne Boomers vs Perth Lynx, 8:30pm local, November 28 at Townsville Stadium
- Jayco Southside Flyers vs Villawood Properties Bendigo Spirit, 8:00pm local, December 3 at Cairns Pop-Up Arena
To accommodate the need for all teams to play 13 regular season games by December 14, the following Flames games have been changed:
Was: Adelaide Lightning vs Brydens Sydney Uni Flames, 12:00pm local, December 13 at Townsville Stadium
Now: Adelaide Lightning vs Brydens Sydney Uni Flames, 5:00pm local, November 28 at Cairns Pop-Up Arena
Was: Brydens Sydney Uni Flames vs Adelaide Lightning, 8:00pm local, November 19 at Townsville Stadium
Now: Brydens Sydney Uni Flames vs Adelaide Lightning, 4:00pm local, December 13 at Townsville Stadium