A feature by Giancarlo Gonzales and Hugh Regan
There’s a polished stretch of hardwood in Wollongong that locals refer to as the ‘back courts’, and that’s better known as ‘The Snakepit’. For many years, it was a place where players gathered. An arena that would become lore within the local basketball community. The Snakepit wasn’t just a place where the ball bounced, where shoes squeaked; it had a pulse, a heartbeat. Team talks in the locker rooms were suffocating, supporters went shoulder-to-shoulder in the stands, and above everything, the game’s spirit soared. It was where The Hawks first took flight.
Before the lights of the WIN Entertainment Center shone down on the modern game, The Snakepit showcased what the Hawks had to offer: the identity the community bestowed upon the team and how the national sport could be transformed.
“The thing is…The Snakepit has been a couple of places.”
Phil Lynch
The Illawarra Basketball Association (IBA) built a two-court stadium in 1965 using scaffolding as seating arrangements for crowds. It was a showcourt, where Wollongong’s best could train, play, learn, and entertain.
Phil Lynch was a commentator and player during the early years of The Snakepit. He played for the Shoalhaven Tigers in the 70s, and then, when he began at WIN TV, he began commentating for the National Basketball League in 1979, soon emerging as the nation’s leading basketball commentator. Lynch would go on to network television coverage for four Olympic Games — Los Angeles, Seoul, Atlanta and Sydney — along with four world championships. And all the while, he was there at The Snakepit, on the hardwood floor, playing or calling the game.
Image courtesy of South Coast Register
Phil recalls how his home stadium back in Bomaderry, The Snakepit and the Sydney Alexandria Stadium were built around the same time in the mid 60s.
“Those three buildings sort of developed together. The point I want to make is, up until that time, all of the places we played weren’t designated basketball arenas, they were some sort of another space that was used to play basketball in.”
The Snakepit wasn’t a grand arena: with decrepit stands, low ceilings, and a floor that creaked under pressure, it was a single-court shed. But under the glare of fluorescent lights, the Snakepit developed into a focal point for the Illawarra basketball community, where local kids had huge dreams and senior teams played late into the night. The roar of a few hundred fans could have sounded like thousands, and the air was heavy with the smell of sweat.
The Snakepit name and formidable reputation was born through both the players on the court and those supporting. The faithful who would turn up to the games remember being right on top of the players, looking down at them.
“That was when The Snakepit name was born… the crowd was sort of right on top of the players,” Lynch said.
So what changed?
It’s safe to say in those formative years for the club, the Snakepit and the sport of basketball gave multiple communities a place to gather, compete, and slam a few beers after a game. The physical and social environment that was created cut through much of the divide that now exists between fans and their teams.
Illawarra native and former Canberra Cannons player Phil Morgan made this clear. Playing semi-professionally in the NBL during the 1980 season, he maintained his connection to the game by organising weekend-long tournaments throughout the 1990s. The team aspect of basketball permeated through the building and out into the local Illawarra region.
Image courtesy of The Canberra Times
Yes, the Snakepit was cramped, loud, and ‘competitively volatile’, but former opposing players such as Morgan agree that visiting the infamous facility was an experience in itself. When asked about his Cannon days, Morgan smiled with a reminiscent glint in his eye and spoke without hesitation.
“Playing against Illawarra? It was a most enjoyable trip and venue to play at,” he said.
“The crowd were interactive but they were also very sociable pre-and-post game.”
He recalled the beers, his teammates, the opponents, and the building being a ‘shooter’s gym’ – all aspects that he recollected before reflecting on the difference between then and now. The movement from the Snakepit to the WIN Entertainment Centre marked a point of progress and developmental history for the club in 1998.
But at what cost?
The team’s flight was bolstered by the community’s support and passion for the game of basketball, and at the Snakepit, the intimacy between player and spectator was unmatched. But it was never going to last alongside a team with bigger ambitions. Since leaving, The Hawks have captured two NBL Championships, first at the turn of the century, and most recently as champions in 2025. They had to escape the nest in order to finally soar.
