HBF Stadium

This article is about HBF Stadium in Claremont. It is not to be confused with Arena Joondalup, also known as HBF Arena.
HBF Stadium
The Cauldron
Former names Perth Superdrome (1986 - 1996)
Challenge Stadium (1996 - 2014)
Location Stephenson Avenue, Mount Claremont, Perth, Western Australia 6010
Coordinates 31°57′9″S 115°46′57″E / 31.95250°S 115.78250°E / -31.95250; 115.78250Coordinates: 31°57′9″S 115°46′57″E / 31.95250°S 115.78250°E / -31.95250; 115.78250
Operator VenuesWest
Capacity Basketball / Netball: 4,500
Opened 1986
Tenants
Western Australian Institute of Sport
Perth Wildcats (NBL) (1987-1990, 2002-2012)
Perth Lynx (WNBL) (1988-1989)
Perth Orioles (CBT) (1997-2007)
West Coast Fever (ANZ Championship) (2008-present)

HBF Stadium, previously known as Perth Superdrome and Challenge Stadium, is a sports complex in Mount Claremont, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It was opened in 1986 and is home to the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). The main indoor arena holds 4,500 people (over 5,000 with standing room). The complex received its current name through a naming-rights sponsorship with HBF in 2014. Although the sponsorship with Challenge Bank expired in 2001, the name of the stadium was retained until the 2014 naming rights sponsorship with HBF.[1][2]

Until the end of the 2011–12 NBL season, HBF Stadium was the home to five time National Basketball League champions the Perth Wildcats. The Wildcats previously used the venue when it was the Claremont Superdrome as their home court from 1987 until moving to the larger (8,200 capacity) Perth Entertainment Centre in 1990. They moved back to the stadium from the 2002–03 NBL season after the Entertainment Centre closed and remained there until the end of the 2011–12 season. The Wildcats played in four NBL Grand Final series at Challenge Stadium in 1987, 2002–03, 2009–10 and 2011–12, with the only championship coming in 2009-10. During Wildcats games the venue was referred to as "The Jungle".

The Wildcats final game at the stadium was their 87-86 win over the New Zealand Breakers in Game 2 of the 2011-12 NBL Grand Final series in front of 4,400 fans. From the 2012–13 NBL season, the Wildcats will play out of the new, 14,846 seat Perth Arena.

Three-time world boxing champion Danny Green also calls HBF Stadium home.

Since 2008 the stadium has also been the home court for the West Coast Fever netball team who play in the ANZ Championship.

The complex features an Olympic-standard aquatic centre with five pools, a gymnasium, two arenas, and several basketball courts, as well as a café, a childcare centre, a sports store, office accommodations and a museum. Regular exhibitions and expos are hosted throughout the year as well as national and international sporting events such as the 1991 and the 1998 World Aquatics Championships.

In 2013 a WAIS High Performance Service Centre commenced construction. It will include a strength and conditioning gym, multi-purpose training and testing area, 80 metre four lane indoor runway for long jump, sprinting and throwing sports, hydrotherapy and recovery pools, physiology and environmental laboratories, consultation rooms, athlete amenities and office space.[3]

As a music venue

HBF Stadium has been the venue of major music concerts, including:

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

References

  1. ↑ "Challenge Stadium loses its name". One Perth. 4 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Division 65: Western Australian Sports Centre Trust, $13 278 000" (pdf). Extract from Hansard. Parliament of Western Australia. 29 May 2002. pp. 178a–179a. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "2012-2013 Annual Report" (pdf). VenuesWest. Western Australian Sports Centre Trust. 2013. p. 6. Retrieved 13 November 2014.

External links

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