Geelong United Basketball & Microkeeper: A Local Partnership

When Geelong United Basketball first sat down with us, the brief sounded simple: they needed a better way to handle timesheets and payroll.

Manual rosters, handwritten timesheets and hours of reconciliation were slowing the team down. On paper, it looked like a straightforward software rollout, fix a process, implement a system, tick the box. 

But as conversations unfolded, it became clear there was more in common than just a payroll problem.

“The initial request was very transactional, we need to fix manual processes,” says Ren Wackett from our Sales and Partnerships team. “But it evolved into a partnership between the two organisations.”

What started as a search for a tool became a long-term relationship built on shared values, community and growth. 

A whole-of-basketball organisation with big ambitions

To understand the partnership, you need to understand Geelong United. 

They’re not a single team or one competition. Geelong United Basketball oversees everything from mid-week community games and junior pathways through to Big V, NBL1 and their WNBL program. They also manage facilities and run major tournaments, with participation numbers climbing year after year. 

“At the core of it, it’s promoting lifelong activity and creating a healthy, active and connected community,” says Connie Regan, General Manager of Partnerships and Marketing at Geelong United Basketball.

Business and Finance Manager Vicki King sees the same picture from the numbers side. 

“We serve four-year olds first learning to bounce a basketball all the way up to WNBL. It’s players, officials, coaches, spectators, we want people involved in sport for the duration of their life in some format.” Vicki King, GUB

Recent growth has been impressive. One junior tournament jumped from 230 to 320 teams in a single year. Domestic competitions continued to expand, and there’s a clear pathway both on and off the court: from juniors through to NBL1 and WNBL, and into coaching, officiating and staff roles. 

To keep the momentum going, Geelong United needs more than sponsors. They need partners who understand both community sport and the realities of running a complex organisation. 

Why Microkeeper made sense

The starting point was operational: Geelong United had a large casual workforce, customer service staff, referees and game day crew, and manual timesheets were becoming unmanageable.

“So for Geelong United Basketball we have a large volume of staff,” explains Connie.
“Manual timesheets required a lot of human time and created opportunities for errors. We needed to reduce that time, reduce those errors and ensure a high level of quality and accuracy.”

When they began exploring options, Microkeeper quickly stood out. 

It wasn’t just the feature set. Three things resonated:

• Microkeeper is a local Geelong business, aligning with their desire to support local organisations. 
• The platform had strong reviews and customer feedback, with stories that looked a lot like their own. 
• The pricing structure made sense for a not-for-profit that still needs robust systems. 

“When we looked into Microkeeper we saw it was a local Geelong business, which made a lot of sense for us. We also saw great reviews and customer feedback on the website. And as not-for-profit, pricing definitely comes into the decision. Microkeeper ticked the boxes.” Connie Regan, GUB

That could have been the end of the story, a good software match. Instead, it became the foundation for something broader. 

What a good partner looks like

From the start, we both approached the relationship as more than a one-way sponsorship or a typical vendor-client setup. 

As a Geelong-based tech company, Microkeeper has always been intentional about supporting local sport and community organisations, not just selling into them. 

“Anything we can do to support the Geelong community, we’re interested in. Working with Geelong United and the Venom teams really ticked a lot of boxes for us.” Ren Wackett, Microkeeper

Connie has a clear framework for evaluating partners: mutual benefit, creativity and follow-through.

“We always look for mutual partnerships, benefits for both partners involved. With Microkeeper, Ren and Dom came up with great ideas on how to bring the partnership to life at NBL1 and WNBL level. Creativity is really important to me. So is reliability, if we agree on something, we see it delivered and we can measure what the return is for both sides.” - Connie Regan

That mindset had already shaped what the partnership looks like in practice.

Beyond logos: activations, fundraising and WNBL

The relationship between Geelong United and Microkeeper has quickly gone beyond a logo on the wall. 

So far, we have:

• Supported raffles and fundraising efforts that help keep programs running on the not-for-profit side of the organisation. 
• Brought our own clients and community into the stands, introducing new faces to the game day experience. 
• Stepped into WNBL sponsorship, backing the Starting 5, a neat connection between workforce, talent and opportunity. 

Each activation is designed to feel genuine, useful and aligned with what Geelong United is building, rather than a generic branding exercise.

For us, it’s also a learning opportunity. 

Working closely with a high-participation, multi-venue sporting organisation pushes the product and the partnership thinking in new directions, from match-day operations through to how staff experience “being paid right”. 

Looking ahead: growing together

Geelong United’s plans for the next few years are ambitious. 

On-court, they’re aiming for their WNBL team to push into the top four and play finals. Off-court, they want more participation, more inclusive programs and stronger pathways for players, coaches, officials and staff.

Partnerships are central to that strategy. 

Connie is focused on delivering more value and insight to sponsors, not just exposure, but real data and tangible outcomes. Microkeeper fits into that picture as both a technology partner and community partner. 

“Growth is happening across all programs and competitions, but to grow you have to have strong systems and processes. That’s where we feel Microkeeper will really support that growth. Starting with our community competition, we can see the opportunity to use the full suite of Microkeeper offerings as we grow into each department.” Connie Regan, GUB

What started as a transactional conversation about digital timesheets has turned into a relationship that supports basketball, business and community in Geelong. 

For us, it’s exactly the kind of partnership the team wants more of: local, long-term and built around real impact.

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