WNBL great: 'It's about time' league back in Tassie

• Kathy Foster won a WNBL championship with the Hobart Islanders in 1989
• Foster is a three-time WNBL MVP and scoring champion
• The Islanders folded in 1996, it was the last time Tasmania had a WNBL team
• Tasmania JackJumpers won the NBL championship in just its third year

“It’s about time.”

Those were the words from one of Tasmania’s greatest ever basketball players Kathy Foster, 65, the moment she learned WNBL basketball would be back in Hobart in 2026.

“It's really good to think that my granddaughter, who's eight years old and just started playing, will have the chance to watch those top players play and have an aspirational pathway if that's what she wants,” Foster told basketball.com.au.

When Hobart joins the league next year as its ninth team, it will have been 30 years since Tasmania had it's own WNBL team and Foster, who was the league’s first three-time MVP (1985, 1986 and 1989), can’t wait for Tasmania's younger generation to have the opportunity watch the stars of today.

Foster’s journey to becoming an Australian Opals vice-captain and superstar of the WNBL with the Hobart Islanders/Tassie Islanders was far from ordinary.

Her path was supremely unique because she wanted to stay in Tasmania and at that time, it didn’t have a WNBL team, so she opted to play in a men’s A grade basketball league, alongside her husband.

“I, probably stupidly, wanted to stay in Tasmania,” she said with a laugh.

“I was lucky that I had the opportunity to play in the A grade men's and that they allowed me to.

“It was great for my development as a player because I used to be an inside player then had to move out a little bit, so that was good.

"After the 1984 Olympics, I was the only one in the Australian team who wasn't playing WNBL, so then we decided to move to Adelaide for a year.

“In Tassie, there were a lot of people doing a lot of work trying to get a team in the league and then at the end of 1985, they rang and said, ‘if you come home, we've got a team’.

“What was great about it is was that we had a fair bit of Tassie talent in our team and we had such good support from the community.

"When we made the grand final, we were on the front and back page of the paper, so we had really good support.”

The Islanders reached their third straight Grand Final in 1991, winning their only championship 67-64, led by Australian basketball legend Robyn Maher against her old club Nunawading Spectres.

Foster hoped the WNBL team can follow their lead and success of the Tasmania JackJumpers, who play in front of sold-out crowds, and of course, won the 2023-24 NBL championship in stunning fashion.

“The Jackies have provided a blueprint on how to do it successfully, so hopefully they'll use some of those lessons learned,” she said.

“I have to give a big tick to [JackJumpers coach] Scott Roth with how he got the community invested and that led to success both on and off the court.

“He’s put in a lot of time and effort to make sure that Tasmania bought in.”

Australian Basketball Hall of Famer Foster dominated the WNBL, and her name is synonymous with basketball in Tasmania. In her 1989 MVP season, Foster averaged 20.3 points per game. She also won the WNBL Top Shooter Award twice 1987 with 415 points and 1989 with 517.

She never took a backwards step on the court and the new iteration of a Tasmanian WNBL team would be well served to follow in her footsteps as she fondly remembered her WNBL career.

“We loved going away for weekends and we had some pretty rough road trips,” she said.

“I remember when Perth came into the league we would do two games in Adelaide, fly to Perth, then fly home at Sunday midnight and go to work on Monday morning.

“We all really had to buy in, but that was just the way it was at the time. We had a couple of very good coaches and people that put a lot of time and effort in.”

Foster lives and breathes Tasmania basketball, and it was fitting recognition in 2013 when she became the first Tasmanian to be inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.

She can’t wait for the WNBL to return to the state.

“It'll be fantastic,” she said.

“It’s been about 30 years since we've had a team, so I think it's something that we can really look forward to.

“There is a real desire here in Tassie to have high level basketball. It's fantastic the way women's basketball is looking at the moment and let's hope we can keep that momentum going.”

Kathy Foster's career snapshot

• Inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame 2013
• Opals Vice-Captain 1983-88
• Olympian 1984
• 135 WNBL games
• 18 ppg average WNBL
• 2 x World Championships player in 1983 and 1986
• Three-time MVP winner for WNBL 1985, 86 and 89

About the Author

Hayley Wildes is passionate about all things Australian women’s basketball and loves to highlight the stories of players from all levels and competitions across the globe. From our own backyard in the WNBL, to the WNBA and the Opals, and everything in between, Hayley has you covered.