A Basketball Disneyland: Our first look into CourtSide Melbourne
Two years in the making, CourtSide Melbourne is like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s been called ‘a destination for basketballers’ and is set to open this month.
L to R: Dyson Daniels, Chris Goulding, Chris Moore, Daniel Moldovan, Josh Giddey
Ever feel like you can’t always get what you need as a basketball player or fan here in Australia? Or that the mainstream sports market doesn’t always cater for your style, your fashion, access to the latest kicks or even your ability to have a one-stop shop to develop your game?
Well, that’s all about to change as the local basketball landscape takes a big leap forward with the launch of CourtSide Melbourne. You may have seen some snippets on social media, but until you see it with your own eyes, it’s hard to fathom just exactly what CourtSide is all about.
I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour with Chris Moore, the Director of CourtSide, and it did not disappoint. In fact, I was blown away. There is nothing else like this for most sports in Australia, and possibly nothing else like this for basketball anywhere in the world.
Think about what is set up each year for tennis fans at the Australian Open in terms of everything you could want to access as a player or fan to serve that sport. Now imagine that, but add the ability to play, train, learn, as well as shop – on a permanent basis. You’ll start to get a sense of what CourtSide is set to be.
Moore, who is the CEO and a Co-Founder of Hoop City, said the CourtSide concept has been in the making for around two years.
“We had the Hoop City concept and we always knew Hoop City would be more than just a training facility,” Moore told The Pick and Roll this week. “Never expected it to be something like this, but this particular concept [has been] about two years [in the making].”
It is very close to becoming a reality, with a target to open to the public before the end of July. Moore acknowledged he and his team have a few bits and pieces still to do, including some cleaning, but he’s confident it will open by then.
To give you an idea of just what we’re talking about here, let’s start with just the basketball facilities. This will be the fourth Hoop City location in Victoria and will be the biggest. It includes two full-size basketball courts, two half-courts, six shooting bays, a gym, sauna, ice baths, hot baths, a recovery area, two pro-style team locker rooms, a private players’ lounge, a 48-seat auditorium, as well as team meeting rooms and everything else you’d expect from a Hoop City location.
But in addition to that, there is a full-size show court in the main CourtSide area that seats close to 300 people. If you’re counting at home, that’s three full-size courts in total. In fact, there is over 3,000 square metres of basketball playing area inside CourtSide, plus the high-performance areas.
There is also a two-storey restaurant and café inside that overlooks the show court. Aptly named ‘Peaches’ to acknowledge basketball’s origins with peach baskets, it will cater to all the clientele that come through the door and has private dining areas and a sports bar on the mezzanine level.
You can have parties at CourtSide too, with three separate party rooms, each with some activations to entertain the kids when they’re not out on one of the courts, and catered by Peaches. And you can even get a haircut at the ‘Fadeaways’ barber shop.
The real differentiator of CourtSide from other Hoop City locations or basketball facilities in Australia, will be the 2,700 square metres of retail space.
CourtSide will be home to 24 different brands under one roof. Think a specialty department store for all of your basketball needs. From Nike, Adidas, Puma and New Balance to Wilson and Spalding, but also Crocs, Frank Green, New Era, Mitchell & Ness, Vouseti, popular label Ryoko Rain — who will open their first Australian store at CourtSide — and many more.
Inside the retail space: Photo via CourtSide Melbourne
The displays for each brand look great and with Adidas and New Balance putting the finishing touches on never before seen concept stores within the retail space, they’ll only get better. There is also a customisation area to get jerseys, hats or uniforms made on the spot.
But what sets it apart from other retailers is their access to stock. The latest drops will all be available, as well as some hard-to-find favourites that CourtSide will carry, such as the Kobe VI Protro ‘All-Star’ and the Air Jordan 1 Retro ‘Shattered Backboard’ – all at regular retail prices and available to the public.
In all, CourtSide’s 10,000 square metres of space caters for anything you could be looking for as a basketball player or fan.
Last week, CourtSide had an official launch party. It was an opportunity for the founders and partners, including players like Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels and Chris Goulding, to showcase what CourtSide is all about.
It was attended by a number of high-profile people in the Australian basketball scene, as well as media from major outlets, and feedback was resoundingly positive on the night.
“Yeah, they were blown away,” said Moore.
“Constant reference to Disneyland for a basketballer, whether it's on court performance, whether it's everything you can want from a retail perspective for both performance and culture. So yeah, it was awesome feedback from everybody.”
And while the hype around the launch is great and the buzz around the retail offerings continues, Moore doesn’t want to lose sight of the core business of Hoop City, which is about basketball development, especially at the elite levels.
Hoop City Port Melbourne has already hired former Brisbane Bullets head coach, Justin Schueller as the Director of Coaching and Performance, four-time WNBL championship coach and current Opals assistant, Cheryl Chambers as a lead coach, and former Tasmania JackJumpers assistant, Jack Fleming as the other lead coach.
Chris Goulding addresses the crowd at the launch night: Photo via CourtSide Melbourne
And having three full-size basketball courts, two half-size basketball courts, plus all the other gym and high-performance areas that go along with that, means that this facility will be used in a variety of ways.
“So definitely the standard core business of Hoop City, which is our development programs, our membership model where you come in and use the shooting bays and the gym, and work out in your own time,” explained Moore.
“But then we plan to do a lot more of the higher-level, high-performance stuff here. Showcases [too]. We want to work with the NBL and NBL1 to see if we can get some preseason showcases going, help get some guys picked up.
“Having Lighthouse Sports as part of the incumbents here and based here, we plan on doing a lot of stuff to try and help kids get picked up by that agency, place them in colleges and those sorts of things.
“So, core business of Hoop City, but try and take that elite level to the next level.”
Those showcases would be held on the show court, which can be rented out for other events, or parties.
More of the retail space: Photo via CourtSide Melbourne
Moore also said they are working towards housing the New Orleans Pelicans when they’re in Melbourne for the NBA preseason games in October. The plan is for the Pelicans to make CourtSide Melbourne their training base while they’re here.
A project of this size doesn’t happen without support and connections, and Moore has both.
One of his partners is Daniel Moldovan from Lighthouse Sports. Giddey, Daniels and Goulding are involved via Lighthouse. They’ve also got NBA skills trainer Jordan Lawley on board as a part owner and the head skills trainer.
Josh Giddey works out with Jordan Lawley on one of the Hoop City courts - Photo via CourtSide Melbourne
In addition, Moore’s original Hoop City partner Simon Hupfeld and retail expert, Michael Schneider are both involved.
“And then my other main partner is Chris Fifer, who's had Ultra Football before, which is a soccer version of this on a smaller scale,” Moore explained.
“So, between Hoop City and Ultra Football, that's really where CourtSide was born.”
If you’re a serious hooper, a fan of basketball, or just into basketball culture, you really do need to find a way to get down to CourtSide Melbourne to see it for yourself.
I thought I had a sense of how big it was going to be, but was actually still blown away at the sheer scale of it when I parked. Once inside, it’s amazing how vast the space is. It is somewhere you could easily spend a couple of hours just browsing, and if you’re going to lace up your sneakers to get some shots up, you might be there for half a day or longer.
And that’s what Moore is hoping for.
“We talk about who are our customers going to be, and they're the hoopers of all ages, all skill levels. They're the fans, they're the sneakerheads, they're the style obsessed basketball culture,” he explained.
“I think we've got something for everybody, no matter what your relationship with basketball is. Whether you're a player, you just love watching it, you like dressing [in basketball gear], it's all here for you.”
While most of Moore’s focus right now is on getting ready to open their doors to the public later this month, he admitted there are some other exciting plans in the works for the not-too-distant future, but those will take a back seat until after the launch for now.
Having said that, Moore certainly has a vision for CourtSide in terms of where it may ultimately sit within the basketball landscape of Melbourne, if not Australia.
“I really want it to be an icon, a destination,” Moore said.
“We've had interest from people from Perth, overseas, everything already, just saying they've just got to come and see this place.
“It's what we really want it to be. We call it a destination, and that's what we want it to be. We want it to be an Australian icon for basketball.”
CourtSide Melbourne is located at 522 Graham St in Port Melbourne.