Basketball League Pathways in Australia

At LC Elite Basketball, we believe that everyone in Australia must have a deep understanding that Australia is a country that attaches great importance to sports development. In addition to Australian football, basketball is well-deserved to be the most popular and high-profile sport in this country. Australia has the second largest and most complete youth basketball development system in the world after the United States. Among them, the Victorian Youth Basketball League is the most participating team in Australia, and it is also the largest and most complex in structure.

Most parents are unaware of the Victorian basketball system, and they are confused about the nature of the club, and how to choose and sign up. The most mainstream basketball competition levels in Australia are divided into national, state and regional levels, followed by various non-profit, private institutions and community basketball leagues, as well as the Social Leagues independently organized by each arena.

Australian basketball is open to the whole people, regardless of men, women and children, from the national team to the primary school basketball team, there is a complete set of training and competition procedures.

Junior Championships Australian School Championships, a competition with schools as the participating units. The participating schools are high schools. Generally, the schools select their players from the basketball team. The 14-20-year-old club championship is generally attended by the championship-level club representative teams of each state. The coach of the representative team (the rep Team will be described below) selects outstanding players and forms a team to participate in the championship. The winning team will Enjoy the championship title until the next season.

State-level State Each state has a youth basketball league. Taking Victoria as an example, the VJBL belongs to the major leagues at this level. VJBL games take place Friday night at venues across the state. About 1,017 teams play each week, which equates to 507 games out of 150. The annual league starts around mid-November and lasts until late September of the following year, lasting more than 40 weeks, usually consisting of 1 game and 2 training sessions per week.

VJBL belongs to the most important and high-profile youth professional basketball league in Victoria. Because of the selection system, each coach invites the selected players to participate in the game, which also reflects the threshold and professionalism of the league from the side.

Arguably the largest competition of its kind, the VJBL offers a grading system for junior basketball, giving players the chance to play against the best basketball players in the state. Since the nature of the league is a competition, the players will be selected by various clubs, so the teams participating in the VJBL are usually referred to as their club's representative team (Rep team)

Affiliated to the Victorian Junior State Championships 20 championship-level club teams compete in each age group, and the winners will represent Victoria in the national junior championships. Victoria Junior Basketball League (Division A, B, C, D). All club teams outside the non-championship group are divided into 4 divisions, play in their regions, and then the regional winners represent their divisions in the state league. For example, Latrobe City Energy will compete in the Gippsland region with the Melbourne Tigers, Eltham Wildcats, Nunawading Spectres, Geelong Cats, etc. in the same region.

The winners then represent the Gippsland region against other regions, with each interstate-winning team going to the other state finals. It should be noted that the registration of VJBL needs to pay attention to the selection time of each participating club. It usually starts in October. After several rounds of selection, the coach officially invites the players to join the team.

We are mostly exposed to the domestic league.

Regional-level competitions are mainly to encourage participation and develop interests and hobbies. Players do not need to be selected, just sign up.

Most of the players participate in regional leagues because Domestic is a good entry-level league whether it is to cultivate hobbies or develop in the field of basketball in the future.

Each region has its related leagues, for example; EDJBA, MEBA are the largest regional youth competitions in Melbourne, with 1,390 teams and nearly 11,000 participants, and clubs in 17 regions will organize registered young players to participate in this league. There is one practice and one game per week, and the coaches are usually parents or basketball volunteers. Little players can sign up for the competition all year round, just write an email to the club and wait for the team to be assigned and notified.

In addition, each club will also have its internal competition, and the specific participation process can be checked on the official website of the basketball club in your area.

To sum up, the Victorian youth basketball leagues and systems are roughly divided into these above types. Joining a club is the most practical way of training. Basketball can be interpreted as a victory in a game, the joy of winning a championship, the frustration of a loss, the tacit understanding of working together and a spirit of never giving up.

Compared with the league, what is more important is what the child has learned in basketball, what they have gained, and whether it has brought them a positive impact.

Success and difficulty, progress and setbacks all play a very important and indispensable role in children's growth.