Basketball On The Internet.

NORTH Adelaide Rockets will be heading out of (Jo) Hillcrest Stadium sooner than later and there are hopes the new redevelopment at St Clair for Woodville will approximate what's happened for Norwood at Campbelltown.

The City of Port Adelaide has committed to construction of a new recreation centre on the corner of Hampstead Road and East Parkway at the western end of the Lightsview housing development.

The new venue is likely to house four-to-five courts and ultimately will replace Hillcrest Stadium. 

Yes, Rockets fans probably have been hearing rumours of this for five years or so but local State MP Dana Wortley (pictured) and Council support have built sufficient momentum for construction to start in December.

Details of the facility still are being finalised by Basketball SA, North Adelaide Rockets and the Council but at last the growth of basketball in the region will properly be accommodated.

Gotta love Dana. Can't keep a good (former) journalist down.

Even before the first sod is turned at Lightsview, in October the St Clair redevelopment gets underway.

The new facility will have five FIBA standard courts including a show court, becoming the standard-bearer for quality venues in the western suburbs.

It will take a fair bit to be anywhere as swish as Norwood Flames' new Campbelltown home, remodelled to be unrecognisable as the former St Bernard's Recreation Centre.

In the interim, BSA will accommodate current basketball programs scheduled at St Clair with greater use of West Adelaide's home at Port Adelaide Recreation Centre and also Titanium Security Arena.

But wait! There's more!

No, not steak knives but a new four-court sports hub at St Francis De Sales at Mount Barker also is scheduled to be built this year.

That should accommodate both the Eastern Mavericks and Eastern Hills Basketball Association.