Canberra's sporting venue debacle: have we got our priorities right?

If ever there was a symbolic moment of Canberra's shambolic sporting venue situation, this was it. The lights went out on the city's most successful team, but at the same time it turned a blinding spotlight on an issue that has dragged on for far too long.

And we have to be clear about this issue. It's not a problem with the National Convention Centre, where there was a power outage hours before the Capitals' game against Adelaide. That can happen, and it has as recently as this month in the NBL when there was a power outage during an NBL game in Cairns.

It's not even a problem with Radford College and the brand new basketball court, which packed in 1500 people at short notice and got rave reviews from players, coaches and supporters.

It's a problem with a decade of neglect for Canberra's sporting infrastructure at every level, the fact a women's elite sporting team had to rely on a private school gym to avoid complete embarrassment and the corner many teams and administrators now feel they are backed into.

With an election looming next year, ACT the government will face some tough decisions when it comes to supporting sports and those who play or watch. And it is, of course, unfair to lump every problem at the government's feet because there isn't enough money to do it all.

But indulge me for a moment to go through some of the issues.

Canberrans are feeling the pinch of the continued rise in the cost of living, but the government has resisted calls to introduce a sports registration voucher system to ease the pressure on families despite the capital having the most expensive fees in the country.

Community venues are in dire need of minor upgrades - whether it be new female change room facilities, better lights, new turf or canteens - as the city's population continues to grow.

The $33.5 million Home of Football at Throsby has endured delay after delay, but there is some hope construction will start next year after initially being funded in 2020.

Basketball ACT is set to get a similar-sized funding boost in the budget next year to build three extra courts at Belconnen, with the project tipped to cost somewhere between $20-30 million.

The new ice rink at Tuggeranong has plans drawn up, but hasn't started construction despite the initial feasibility study being commissioned during the 2016 election campaign.

The AIS Arena will reopen in mid next year after a funding injection from the federal government, but it has been closed for almost four years after being neglected for far too long.

Canberra Stadium is ... how long have you got? Yes, we're about to enter the 15^th year of inaction, even though the latest grand vision suggests a new venue, or at least a refurbished one, is on the way by 2033.

The Canberra Cavalry has to prematurely end ABL games because nearby residents have complained about the lights being on after a certain point in the evening.

And Manuka Oval is a great boutique venue, but the eastern side certainly needs some love (or at worst, some permanent toilets).

Have we covered it all? Maybe the Capitals' situation this week will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. The most successful team in WNBL history - the nine-time champions - had to move a regular season game of a professional women's competition to a school gymnasium.

You can't plan for a power outage and circumstances did conspire against other alternatives. Tuggeranong is being resurfaced and was therefore unavailable, and even if the AIS Arena was operational, there may have been a booking clash.

But is this the best we can do? "We need to do better in making sure everyone in the community knows how great our women's sports teams are," ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry said during her first days in the role almost eight years ago.

It makes you wonder how the Capitals wound up in the court availability predicament. Players and officials rolled up their sleeves to move teams, officials, merchandise, sponsor signage and more than 1500 fans across town at short notice.

Unfazed by the move, the team won its second game of the year. The atmosphere was electric, and it may even pave the way for using the venue again for training or games when required.

But when the afterglow of that winning feeling wore off, the Capitals were equally buoyed and frustrated after a chaotic 24 hours.

Only a few months ago the Matildas changed the game for female athletes in Australia. The World Cup was seen as a pivotal moment in changing the attitude towards women's sport.

But on the same day as the Matildas sold out their 12^th game in a row, and hours after the WNBL announced the Capitals-Adelaide clash would be the first game broadcast into more than 100 countries after striking a deal to be shown on the WNBA app around the world, the Capitals had to shift to a school gym.

Talk about irony. "A court is a court. You play where you have to," one Capitals insider said. "But the days of playing in a tin shed, or even a school gym, are over. It's time to do something about it."

Many in Canberra's elite and community sporting environment have expressed their dismay at the city's sporting infrastructure going backwards over the past decade.

"How does that happen when everyone else is going forward," one administrator said. "The population has gone up, but sporting facilities have gone nowhere."

That is true to a certain extent. The government has invested in gender-friendly change rooms, is spending $7.5 million on new netball courts, another $7.5 million on a new pavilion at Phillip, refurbished and upgraded Phillip Oval for Cricket ACT and AFL Canberra, invested in a new tennis centre at Gungahlin and has continually increased its funding for the problem-plagued Home of Football.

The problem the government faces is where do they turn now? Every one of the funding problems listed earlier requires millions of dollars to fix, or at least ease the pressure sports are facing.

It can't all be done at once. But the longer the problems are left, the bigger they become, and Canberra can't afford to have the lights go out again.