The new faces appointed to lead the Port Macquarie Basketball Association into an exciting new era will remember the past, but not dwell on it.
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That's the message from board director Mark Champion following the election of a new board at the association's annual general meeting on November 24.
The former board resigned en masse on September 18 after a contingent of parents, players and coaches raised concerns about decisions made by the board were made public.
Their concerns focused on action against three of the club's coaches who were banned by the PMBA board for a combined total of 12 years, while two under-18 players were also ousted after an on-court protest about those bans.
But Champion says the new board of Gary Turnbull, Ben Davidson, Deb Burghardt, Nicole McMahon, Janine Handley, Lyndal Harper and Carole Rosenbaum will now lead the association into the future.
"For us it's not about what's happened in the last year, it's about what's behind us in the last 53 years since we've been a club," Champion said.
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"For us it's not about what's happened in the last year, it's about what's behind us in the last 53 years since we've been a club."
- Mark Champion
"Some great things have happened and the club's been built from essentially nothing so we are going to respect the history and the things we've done well.
"We'll celebrate our successes, but we're going to look forward and see how we can be even better."
The focus will be more about growing and continuing to serve the community.
"It's not like we have a target of a number relating to how big we want to be," Champion said.
The new board will ask for input from club members as to how basketball locally should be run with an emphasis on transparency.
"Primarily our vision is to be more inclusive as an organisation and make sure we serve the interests of our members," Champion said.
"There will be a survey run in coming months to enquire about a new strategic plan and ask what our members need and how basketball will continue to grow."
The club is set to start the new year re-advertising for most positions whether they be honorary or voluntary.
We want that transparency that comes with going through a process.
- Mark Champion
"That's not to say the current people aren't doing a great job because in many cases we may be keeping the same people," Champion said.
"But we want that transparency that comes with going through a process.
"Basketball is a really good instrument in the community to help young kids grow and develop and gives an outlet for a lot of adults as well.
"For us it's about getting more people playing basketball because it's a benefit to have a strong club which supports the people in the community."
As part of the AGM on November 24, John Minihan was offered life membership of the club.
"He isn't interested in being on the board at the moment, but still has some great insights and has a lot of history with the club and knows what's worked well," Champion said.
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