AFTER more than four years, Rockhampton Basketball development officer Matt Neason is saying farewell to Central Queensland.

Neason leaves his position with the organisation before the end of the year and admits he goes with mixed feelings.

“I am moving on, going back to Melbourne,” he said.

Neason said he missed his family in Victoria and that was the main consideration behind his decision to leave the area.

“I would love to continue to be involved,” he said.

“I still have a passion for basketball from the juniors up.

“This has to be the hottest centre for basketball in Australia.”

While working as the local development officer, Neason also had spells with the Hog’s Breath Cafe Cyclones, another position he really enjoyed.

Neason said he was happy being a part of the big picture of Rockhampton Basketball and while not directly involved with some of those successes, still felt a part of it.

One of those areas has been the growth of the sport in Central Queensland.

“We are growing, the rest of the state struggles to keep numbers,” he said.

Neason downplayed his role but said he enjoyed being a part of the evolution of basketball in Central Queensland.

Annual growth of the sport locally has been 30% and upwards over the past few years.

“The area enjoys phenomenal growth, he said, “We are growing junior and seniors.

“I think our male growth is a little bit ahead of the females but we are still growing our female competition, I’m proud of that.”

While in Rockhampton Neason said he was proud of being a part of an organisation that had collected the state title in QBL.

“Now I think the emphasis will be on two state titles (men and women),” he said.

“I am sure they (Cyclones) will still bring in quality players.”

Neason is not moving to a new job in Victoria.

“I will probably assess things in April,” he said.

One thing he may do is have another season playing AFL. “I would like to play one more year but at 31 the injuries take their toll as you don’t recover like you used to,” he said.

Neason said he was unaware how Rockhampton Basketball would recruit a replacement for his role.