Premier League (Australia)

Premier League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2016 Premier League (Australia)
Formerly BankSA League
Central ABL
Sport Basketball
Founded 1936
Inaugural season 1957
No. of teams 10
Country Australia
Most recent champion(s) M: Norwood Flames (4th title)
W: Norwood Flames (7th title)
Most titles M: West Adelaide Bearcats (14 titles)
W: North Adelaide Rockets (20 titles)
Official website Premier League

The Premier League (formerly known as the BankSA League and the Central Australian Basketball League) is a semi-professional basketball league in South Australia, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. Formerly a conference of the Australian Basketball Association (ABA), the league is used as a development league for the Adelaide teams competing in the NBL and WNBL.

History

The South Australian Metropolitan Basketball Association was founded in 1936. All games were played at Duncan Buildings, Franklin Street, Adelaide with 16 teams competing. After World War II, basketball resumed at the Our Boys Institute in the city, and suburban drill halls, with 27 teams. In 1946, the first Australian Basketball Championship was held in Sydney. The Men's Championship was held 36 times with the last series held in 1984. South Australia won 14 titles and finished second another 13 times. The Men's Championship was discontinued in the 1980s because of the rise of the National Basketball League. The respective Women's Championship was first held in 1955 in Melbourne, and was held 29 times until it too was discontinued in 1984. South Australia won the title 14 times and finished second another 11 times.

In 1951, the District Association was formed and in 1953 the Forestville Stadium, with one court, was built. At the time, the Stadium was the first of its kind in Australia. By 1954, there were 57 teams competing in all grades in the District Association. In 1956, a second court was built at Forestville and in 1958, a third.

In 1957, the Basketball Association of South Australia (BASA) held its first official State League season, with North Adelaide (later known as the Rockets) taking out both the men's and women's championships.

As the Association grew, a landmark in Australian and South Australian basketball came about in 1969 when the Apollo Entertainment Centre was built. It had one court and the capacity to seat 3,000 people, and became the home for basketball in South Australia, providing offices for the administration of the BASA. It was a beginning for many more buildings to come until the major boom for basketball occurred in the 1980s with the formation of the National Basketball League in 1979.

In 1980, Barry Richardson was installed as General Manager of the Association and he consolidated the Association's assets and continued its growth.

In 1985, the 1982 NBL champions, the West Adelaide Bearcats, left the NBL for the BankSA State League citing financial reasons. This left the Adelaide 36ers as the only team representing South Australia in the NBL. The 36ers, coached by Ken Cole, surged to success in 1985, culminating in a Grand Final appearance against the Brisbane Bullets. This sparked a tremendous upsurge in the involvement and interest in basketball from both the public and media in South Australia.

In 1986, the Association expanded even further with the addition of the Woodlands Sporting Complex at Athol Park, housing four basketball courts and both indoor and outdoor tennis courts. The year was also memorable as the 36ers won the NBL championship for the first time. The 1986 36ers became the first NBL team to go through the regular season undefeated at home with a 14–0 record at the Apollo Stadium, and finished with a 24–2 overall record before going on to defeat the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the Grand Final series. With the 36ers' serge, the constant demand for tickets far outstripped the 3,500 seat Apollo Stadium, and a feasibility study was commissioned into the development of a multi-sports complex.

This led to the building of the 8,000 seat Clipsal Powerhouse (later renamed the Adelaide Arena) in the western suburb of Findon, which was opened on 19 December 1991. Built at a cost of A$16 million, the Powerhouse was built with a central court and two either side that could be hidden under retractable court side seats when the stadium was in use for the 36ers. This gave the Powerhouse the ability to revert to a three-court international-standard facility. Since its opening, the Adelaide Arena has been the home of Basketball South Australia.[1]

In 1998, the then named BankSA League joined the Continental Basketball Association as the association's Central Conference, and the league later became known as the Central Australian Basketball League,[2] a name that stuck until December 2014.

Basketball SA's leading basketball competition for South Australia's elite men's and women's teams entered into a new era in 2015. With the SA state league having lacked a sense of identity over the years, the choice was made to change the league's name from Central Australian Basketball League to Premier League. As a result of the completion of a competition review including feedback received from clubs, the league's name was changed to provide a clear identity with the goal for 2015 to provide more games and a greater variety.[3]

Current clubs

Past champions

Year Men Women
1957 North Adelaide Rockets North Adelaide Rockets
1958 North Adelaide Rockets South Adelaide Panthers
1959 North Adelaide Rockets Vikings
1960 Adelaide Sports Klub Vikings
1961 Budapest North Adelaide Rockets
1962 Budapest Vikings
1963 South Adelaide Panthers Vikings
1964 Adelaide Sports Klub North Adelaide Rockets
1965 South Adelaide Panthers North Adelaide Rockets
1966 South Adelaide Panthers Adelaide Giants
1967 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1968 West Adelaide Bearcats West Adelaide Bearcats
1969 South Adelaide Panthers North Adelaide Rockets
1970 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1971 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1972 West Adelaide Bearcats West Torrens Eagles
1973 South Adelaide Panthers West Torrens Eagles
1974 West Torrens Eagles Sturt Sabres
1975 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1976 Glenelg Tigers North Adelaide Rockets
1977 Glenelg Tigers North Adelaide Rockets
1978 West Adelaide Bearcats Glenelg Tigers
1979 West Adelaide Bearcats Glenelg Tigers
1980 West Adelaide Bearcats West Adelaide Bearcats
1981 West Adelaide Bearcats Sturt Sabres
1982 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1983 North Adelaide Rockets West Adelaide Bearcats
1984 Central Districts Lions Noarlunga City Tigers
1985 Sturt Sabres Noarlunga City Tigers
1986 Sturt Sabres Noarlunga City Tigers

Year Men Women
1987 South Adelaide Panthers West Adelaide Bearcats
1988 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1989 South Adelaide Panthers North Adelaide Rockets
1990 Forestville Eagles North Adelaide Rockets
1991 South Adelaide Panthers North Adelaide Rockets
1992 Noarlunga City Tigers West Adelaide Bearcats
1993 Noarlunga City Tigers West Adelaide Bearcats
1994 West Adelaide Bearcats North Adelaide Rockets
1995 South Adelaide Panthers Norwood Flames
1996 West Adelaide Bearcats Noarlunga City Tigers
1997 South Adelaide Panthers Norwood Flames
1998 Noarlunga City Tigers North Adelaide Rockets
1999 Norwood Flames Norwood Flames
2000 Woodville Warriors Norwood Flames
2001 Sturt Sabres Forestville Eagles
2002 Sturt Sabres Sturt Sabres
2003 Forestville Eagles Forestville Eagles
2004 Eastern Mavericks North Adelaide Rockets
2005 Woodville Warriors Forestville Eagles
2006 Forestville Eagles Sturt Sabres
2007 North Adelaide Rockets West Adelaide Bearcats
2008 Norwood Flames Sturt Sabres
2009 Norwood Flames Forestville Eagles
2010 Sturt Sabres Forestville Eagles
2011 Forestville Eagles Forestville Eagles
2012 Forestville Eagles Norwood Flames
2013 Forestville Eagles Norwood Flames
2014 Woodville Warriors North Adelaide Rockets
2015 Norwood Flames Norwood Flames

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.