Ummm, ok nice idea but all they can come up with is a $200 prize pack ....

Is it just me or is that being pretty cheap ?

Any ideas on the name?

Seemed a bit cheap to me. $200 in exchange for potentially scouring the brains of hundreds.

Wish one of the basketball comps had come up with A-League before soccer/football did. Not like we can go with B-League...

What range of teams are playing SEABL now and in the immediate future? How "South-East" is it?

With SEABL now part of BA the intention for it is to become the National Underpinning league. In reality it will just be SEABL with another name. The operating costs of participating in a league such as this completely puts it out of the price range of most interstate clubs. These interestate clubs are not going to want to travel to Melbourne every other weekend to be beat up on by the powerhouse Victorian clubs who already are financially in a space race to outdo each other often at the detriment of their juniors who miss out.

@Isaac current team list from SEABL Web site ...

Albury Wodonga
Ballarat
Bendigo
Canberra
Brisbane
Dandenong
Frankston
Geelong
Hobart
Kilsyth
Knox
Launceston
Mt Gambier
Nunawading
NW Tasmania
Sandringham

Most westerly is Mt Gambier ...

Most northerly is Brisbane - but nothing in NSW ...

Could almost be called the Vic-Tas League.

But I had the impression half the difficulty in finalising a new competition was to broaden the representation, especially into Qld, NSW and SA ... but has been problematic to find additional associations wanting to be included and able to afford to be included.

Perhaps the plan has just defaulted to "rename SEABL" and take it from there ? Not sure ... anyone else shed some light ?

@SEABL have said that officially there are no real changes due in the short term. Seems like it will be the same teams competing. All states bar WA and NT have a team in the comp.

Edit: Another reply -

@isaacforman At this stage, yes. Obviously we always aspire to be a truly national winter competition, and our new name should reflect this.

In 1981, the South Eastern Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was born when the Australian Club Championships ceased to operate due to the rise of Australia's first truly national competition, the now professional National Basketball League.

But 10 Vic teams, two from Tas, one country team from SA, one called Brisbane and one called Canberra ...

Hardly a true national competition with even representation ... and Brisbane and Canberra not even association based.

The whole idea of the UPL was that is was supposed to be a national competition for associations.

Has that gone out the window ?

I always liked the idea of an umbrella competition sitting over the individual state leagues, with Tasmania playing with Victoria and the ACT with NSW. I know travel for finals series got ruled out by SA teams as too expensive and general travel for games is problematic, but it'd certainly be quite a neat solution.

^Point taken - I was thinking of Sydney ... although as it's Albury Wodonga we could say half Victoria/half NSW ...

^Well we were both half right ... LOL ...

I agree, the closer you look at the structure of SEABL the stranger it looks ... seems to be all for the benefit of the core Vic "power associations" ...

I thought the whole point of the UPL was to level the playing field and make the new competition more inclusive and more affordable to a broader range of associations.

If it's all been watered down to "rename SEABL" that would not be progressive at all ... if a stepping stone, ok, but is starting to sound like it's all become too hard.

Just throwing up a few random names:

AWBL (Australian Winter Basketball League)
ABL (Australian Basketball League)
BAA (Basketball Australia Association)

The key is costs associated are to much for many clubs however i can't see why BSA couldn't some how get 2 or 3 clubs to back a team...i know there is politics but in a perfect world SA & NSW would do this to create a team from both capital cities.

@TW careful man, someone might steal your fabulous ideas and you will miss out on the 200 smackers ! Err, sorry, prize pack to the value of $200.

I started well ...

I got as far as Winter Australian National ... then I couldn't think of anything starting with K.

Southern Club Championship
Southern Basketball Championship
20 State Leagues Down Under
Australian Club Championship

Isaac makes a good point regarding the SEABL adopting the name 'NBL', and the current NBL adopting another name.

A second NZ franchise seems somewhat inevitable in the medium-term assuming the entire league doesn't dissolve - it's a possibility whether we choose to actively acknowledge it or not.

THEN it would appear prudent to change the name of the current NBL, maybe to the 'Australasia League' or 'Oceania League'? Maybe Basketball Australia should be proactive about this, rather than reactive.

Though I'm not sure how keen BA would be on changing the name of the current NBL, particularly after the branding stints recently undertaken e.g. broadcasting contracts with Ten. While not a huge one, I would think the naming rights for 'NBL' is an asset.

Okay, here it is folks...

Change the NBL to SEABL (South East Asian Basketball League), reinstate that team from Singapore with the horrible uniform and rename SEABL to the NBL (National Basketball league) with the addition of a team from S.A. and at least one from N.S.W. to join the league, done!

Failing that, combine the two of them and stick with NBL, problem solved and save the $200.00 to put towards a new uniform design for the Slingers...

If Tassie can maintain two reasonably competative teams in SEABL surely there must be a number of ABA level teams in Adelaide and NSW that could manage it without too much difficulty?

^The problem is that regardless of where the team is based, SEABL teams need to "import" (either locally or overseas) to be competitive.

The challenge for the "new SEABL" is for there to be a level playing field where all teams (including new teams) have reasonably equal access to players and dollars.

Otherwise the existing Vic power clubs are going to dominate. That seems to be the big challenge yet to really be addressed.

I think there should only be one import in lower grades in Australia, the scoring is dominated by imports in many teams and it doesnt encourage Aussie talent to step up.

"I disagree, the Import talent helps keep the League standard high which makes our players better"

Maybe better at defending and playing off the ball, which are important, but I would like to see more Aussies having to take lead roles for their second tier teams, and more of the $$ being spent on good Aussie talent.

I dont like seeing so many players defer to imports, it doesnt help their development and reduces the incentive for clubs to develop go-to local players.

The money is an issue but a couple of the larger clubs in NSW could afford to put a team in if they run it correctly.

BNSW should really be offering any assitance it can to a team wishing to enter SEABL as it will only improve senior basketball in NSW and is good for all parties invovled including the Kings & grass roots particpants.

COLLEGE EXAMPLE
How about they follow the college format where you play in and out of conference games across Australia meaning that associations don't have as much travel throughout the year keeping costs down and then they fight for a NCAA tournament spot at the end of it all. Winner at the end of it all is ABL champion. Teams could be promoted from Div 2 into Div 1 etc. That way their is still the opportunity for teams from interestate to test themselves against VIC teams, get NSW involved and other states too.

Just a thought.

To the anon many posts ago "nothing is stopping NSW, QLD etc teams from entering SEABL".

Well, if they are not entering, something is stopping them - QED.

A competition that is predominantly Victorian associations is not a national comp, no matter how much you guild the lily.

My entry for the competition name, whatever it is:

Southern Cross Basketball League

(c) me, even if I forget to send to the email address, in this thread for the record.

There is an important fundamental question that needs to be asked here, which is about overall structure.

Is it better for NSW (example) to have a thriving state league than the SEABL to have more teams?

Understanding this premise. More teams will not make the SEABL better, it will make it weaker. It might be more interesting, but that is another issue.

The SEABL is not in my view the excellent competition it was maybe 10-12 years ago, more teams will not improve that. Neither will it make it more financially sustainable unless extremely carefully planned.

To correct a few here, the objections from various states about participation in the heralded UPL some years back were about the management of the league, and the grandfather clauses being written in which protected the Victorian hegemony.

That Victorian group has shown themselves to be a powerful and disruptive force when they do not get their own way - witness previous discussions here about how they were allowed to simply run off and form the d-league, doing significant damage at the time to the BigV.

Western Australia and Queensland have long been anti-seabl. They opposed at the time the self managed style of the seabl, independent as it was at the time completely from any governing body in australian basketball. That has changed somewhat, but not enough, to give those other states confidence.

I think a lot has changed, and that is good, but the behaviour of the SEABL has not been well regarded over the years.

^Comparing the structure of SEABL with the AFL ? LOL ...

#409337

Lovely spruiking. Thanks.

Having a more competitive season (and hat may well be the case) does not mean the competition is getting stronger. Competitions go through ups and down in terms of closeness.

Brisbane did not enter the SEABL rather than the NBL. Complete garbage. Brisane, I mean Southern Districts Spartans, were an outsider in Queensland, disliked by their peer clubs, and thought they were too good for QBL, which has actually over many years been a very good club competition. They were agitating for change in the QBL, which would have disadvantaged the northern teams, and cracked it when they could not get their own way. Lets not get into romantic fairytales about Southern Districts.

WA dislike the SEABL management with a passion. If you do not understand the politics of that then you don't also understand the long term arrogance of their SBL, which for a long time believed they were a far better comp than the SEABL - which I do not believe for a minute btw.

Sorry, you seem to be a SEABL apologist, and that is just lovely for you, but it remains that the State bodies generally do not like the independent governance and management structure the seabl have had for many years.

Sad little people. Saying it does not make it so. SEABL saying it certainly does not make it so. SEABL apologists repeating SEABL make saying it all a little sad.

The SEABL is a very good competition, I have no problem with that. But the fact that the gap between it and the NBL has got so much wider over the last decade is a very good indication of where it has not been.

The biggest key is the power base of basketball outside of the NBL is in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. (Kilsyth,Nunawading,Knox,Dandy,Frankston, Sandy)

These clubs will always want to control there own destiny in respect of the SEABL comp but they also understand that they need the UPL to be viable to associations in NSW/QLD/SA moving forward as falling back into a pure state based league isn't good for them.

"Hopefully" we can put politics aside and use the UPL as a true stepping stone to NBL etc with the UPL really encouraging BNSW to get assocaitions into the comp together with another QLD & SA team.

In order to help advance our game the UPL needs to have invovlement from all Capital cities in the Sth East.

Anon, it if is the same anon and I assume it is. You really need to READ what I said, not make up what you think I said.

For instance, I did not say that WA ever wanted to be part of SEABL. I just gave the you the REAL reason they do not want to, and have never wanted, to be part of it.

Do you understand the difference, in between your SEABL woofing?

And, I never said the SEABL was underperforming, in fact I said it was a very good competition. I just don't believe the game in SEABL is as tough or good as it was going back a decade. (BTW, in the context that the gap between SEABL and NBL is getting wider it probably is under-performing, and seriously....)

The argument that competitions create players is tiresome. Competitions contribute to the development of players, contribute being the key word. But that player also played VJBL or Sydney Junior league and therefore it is that competition that is the best in the nation and constantly getting better isn't it? Or does that logic not pervade your whoofing?

Last four anon posts are from the same IP, yes.

Anon, please pick a name so people can follow your argument.

What was the outcome of this?