I agree. However in some cases a D1/D2 team does go down a division.

I spoke to a guy involved with a D1 team that kept getting smashed every week and I said they should move down. His reply is that they need to stay so they can improve more. A bit of strange logic.

BSAs argument can be that even that it is lopsided the girls have been doing great against other states.

If a club doesn't offer d1 then players just move to stronger clubs that have multiple teams in the division. It is a tough situation

totally agree - some grades it's the worst I've seen it. Team numbers are up but they won't be for long with some of the thrashings going on.

Some year groups of players have known nothing but losing.

I am aware of one club that sacrificed a year group so another year group could play Div 1 earlier so when they were second years they would dominate.

Felt for the year group that the club did not attempt develop or encourage.

Should be pro/rel in all grades.

Enforcing the Div 1 rule for NBL 1 is not helping.

A big difference between the haves and have nots.

How is winning by 50 points helping long term ? you want challenges !

I think this topic is raised nearly every year with the disparity between teams. And everytime a solution about how players that are in a strong div 2 or even 3 should transfer to a struggling div 1 program to get an opportunity. It just never happens. If they do decide to transfer they'd rather go to a team that's, for example fifth, so they make div 1 but aren't getting smashed every week still, especially if they're a first year and they have a decent group coming up the next year.
The whole fantasy about nbl1 teams having to have competitive div 1 junior teams is not true. Woodville and central's for years never had a decent junior program apart from a handful of teams, yet they stay in the competition. Sure, Central's won it all this year but how many of its juniors contributed? Nbl1 is just about buying wins now.
BSA just have to be honest as well as the clubs. Forcing kids to play in a division where they have no hope is terrible, just let them be where they can be competitive rather than all this rubbish they spin. They have a grading system for lower teams so they can find a level where it's fair, why are div 1 and 2 exempt?
Anyway, looking forward to seeing this topic around the same time next year.

This is mostly on the clubs.
The clubs fear if they drop their teams from 1s to 2s they will lose players due to the "prestige" of playing div 1.
Some stubborn coaches believe, well the only way we improve is by playing the best. well if you cant get the ball over half court, your ability to shoot wont improve, your half court D wont improve, your PnR coverages wont improve.

How BSA can improve the situation.
Make Div 1 a 8 team comp.
Summer is grading, top 8 teams make the cut bottom 2 down to div 2.

This takes the decision out of the clubs hands and with the new player movement rules, it will limit huge losses of talent.

The long term issue.
Some clubs like southern, eastern, centrals... have catchment areas that are massive. there needs to be some oversight to what these clubs are doing and why they seem to fluctuate so much in participation and competitiveness on the girls side.
It would make sense if Forestville and South, fluctuated the club congestion in these areas are high. Sturt, South, Forestville all within a 14 min drive of each other. But Eagles seem to somehow be strong every year on the girls side. West have to compete with Woodville, some might argue this isnt a competition, but again they are close and if something is "off" or "wrong" the girl and her family can drive down the road and get a new uniform in less than 15 mins.
When more than 50% of the competition is competing just to get girls in the door but 3 clubs who have no competition struggle to fill teams, there is something wrong with the club.

So the 3 "outside" clubs need to be looked into as to why they cant put together 2 teams of competent basketballers vs clubs that have to compete just to get girls in the door.

Agree with above that the south western, western and north western clubs are too crowded. Forestville always a benefactor due to being the most central and now the SBC connection.

Forestville have always been very aggressive with their recruiting of girls and I'd think the majority of their talent would have been recruited. New BSA transfer rules may change this but will remain to be seen.

Southern are a big concern and agree with above that there needs to be some scrutiny on their program, why with such a big area are they so uncompetitive? Centrals splashed plenty of cash to win the NBL1 title yet their girls program is completely broken

Some of those new metro fringe growth areas are huge and BSA / BA should be 100% working on promoting the game in these areas - a huge market waiting to be tapped into.
IMO I feel centrals have made some inroads in this area.
No physical district club between - Evanston, Port and Lightsview is a huge area - not asking for a new club but say if I lived Salisbury Downs - it's go to one of these.

Agreed the old well they will play Div 1 elsewhere is a very small % correct and now with transfer rules restricting - makes it even more complex.

People know where the good coaches and good people are. Some see playing in the 2nd, 3rd,4th team at a good club with good coaches and team mates more appealing than the "div 1 badge".

Maybe don't look at where people are going but where they are leaving and ask why ?

All clubs have to be built from the ground up and no shortcuts - I've often seen many wanting all the rewards of the good clubs - but they haven't done the hard work of volunteer hours, building culture / friendships, working 6 days a week on the court. Worse still when others have moved into a great club and enjoyed the benefits of others hard work and destroyed it all back to very poor.

pro rel all grades no more than 2 teams per club per division post grading season.

can be 8 or 10 teams per Div - if 8 teams shortens championship season but this style puts more emphasis on the grading season - years ago the "summer" season was often spoken of as 'insignificant" and some took time off.

If you go to a stadium - most kids just want a fair game with enjoyment and not to be pummelled - they just want to play - many reflect parental attitudes of divisions etc - good treatment of the players and families are more important that "divisions" if your club emphasises breaking policy and just on "what division you are in" as their benchmark - you'll end up missing some critical points of a successful club.

Grote 12 - You're wrong. It's BSA with their by-laws that force clubs to put in teams where they are uncompetitive. It's a huge issue on the girls side of the program where it is rare to have ten teams who are competitive with one another. Teams lose by large margins, players leave to play other sports.

Also the whole idea of players leaving division 2 to go play division 1 elsewhere. Happens very rarely. In fact on the girls side it's way more common to see a player leave division 1 to go play division 2 or even division 3 so they can have a competitive game!

The whole idea of kids moving to where the coaching is better. Great in theory, but most parents wouldn't know what good coaching is until they find their daughter lose the love of the game and realize what it isn't. The reality is they see a winning team and think "must be good have to move there." Sometimes the coaching is good in winning teams, sometimes it's not. But the end effect is success breeds success and it becomes a pile on for players to move to winning sides making the competitive balance even worse.

It's time BSA change the by-laws and do what actually drives up girls particpation and that is have the players in a competitive environment.