One of Australia’s greatest ever basketballers will play in Geelong next month.
Lauren Jackson will suit up for the Southside Flyers against Bendigo Spirit with the WNBL game being dedicated to road safety awareness throughout the Barwon South West region.
The Spirit home game will be at Geelong Arena on February 11.
The Spirit announced the fixture this week with the backing of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the City of Greater Geelong.
Leading up to the match, Spirit players will be conducting basketball clinics and school visits in the region, with the aim of engaging young people in road safety.
The community engagement opportunities will encourage students in Years 9 to 12 to make good choices as road users and reiterate the importance of extensive supervised practice prior to licensing.
Spirit co-captain Kelly Wilson said the team was proud to represent all of regional Victoria and work closely with the TAC in the build up to this match.
“We as players understand the influence we can have not only in Bendigo but right throughout regional Victoria,” she said.
“We are really looking forward to connecting with the Geelong community and promoting road safety awareness alongside the TAC.
“They have such an important message and we take our responsibility very seriously to do everything possible to help deliver it.”
Fatalities on roads in the Barwon South West region increased last year, with 27 lives lost, compared with 24 in 2021.
Regional roads continue to be a concern for road safety authorities in 2023, with 12 lives lost across regional Victoria already this year. High-speed roads are a major concern, with more than 40% of fatalities occurring in speed zones of 100km/h or more over the past five years.
