The Maritime Women’s Basketball League enjoys fan interaction and reaction to the product it puts on the floor.
The MWBA, with seven teams finishing the league’s third season last summer, is always discussing innovative ideas to further enhance the game day and competitive spirit of women’s basketball.
Former MWBA MVP Kaylee Kilpatrick, who starred for three seasons with Saint John’s Port City Fog, is now working in New Zealand. She attended a pro women’s basketball game and came away impressed with a recent development in the Kiwi circuit called the Rapid League.
Basketball New Zealand (BBNZ) has added a new dimension with the Rapid League.
Rapid League is believed to be a world first. Each Rapid League game will consist of four by four-minute quarters, played mostly under the same rules – save for a few tweaks to speed the game up.
The crux of the innovation is that the starting five players selected for a league game , which immediately follows the Rapid League contest, cannot play in the earlier clash, meaning the Rapid League is reserved only for the seven players selected to come off the bench in the later game.
The new competition will include its own championship ladder – with wins in the Rapid League also earning points on the official league ladder – plus Rapid League will have a season MVP and other individual awards.
Guy Molloy is a coach in the womenb’s league and cites Rapid League as a ‘revolutionary innovation and a game-changer,’ for women’s basketball in New Zealand.
“Rapid League will help fast-track player development in a major way and the flow-through is a positive. I really like the concept and that every player across the squad has a legitimate role to play,” says Molloy.
Rapid League is the brainchild of Sky Sport’s Justin Nelson, who has played a key role in the rise of the Sal’s NBL and Tauihi leagues over the past few years. Nelson says there were several factors behind the idea of creating Rapid League.
“My focus is always on creating new commercial opportunities for the league and all the teams, getting the game more coverage on television, while also finding a way for players down the end of the bench to play a more meaningful role – which will also make a coach’s life easier,” says Nelson.
“I hope the fans and viewers enjoy it. I know they will love seeing every player on the team playing. Fans don’t like seeing players sitting on the bench and not being involved, they want to see the next crop of stars on court. Rapid League will do this.”
Some of the other Rapid League rule tweaks will include no personal fouls – only team fouls, as well as four-minute quarters, overtime periods of just one minute, and teams will also have access to one player time-out each game.
Molloy believes that with greater opportunity to play comes quicker development, which is music to his ears.
“Our players need to be playing more regularly, and Tauihi has already proven to be a success for our top-end talent. What I really like about Rapid League is the opportunity to perform is now spread across the whole team, especially to the next crop of players.
“With this innovation we will see players emerge and develop quicker, and they will stay in the game longer because they are active, which is important for us. Going forward, teams will benefit from Rapid League. This could be one of the most revolutionary innovations I’ve seen in basketball in many years.’
We’d love to hear your thoughts as fans of the MWBA.
– DWinston Photo