Pakenham Basketball

About Us

The Pakenham and District Basketball Association was formed in the 1960’s and were firstly called West Gippsland Basketball Association. The first home was the Koo Wee Rup picture theatre in the main street of Koo Wee Rup. The undersized court was only used for a few years before we moved to the Bunyip Football Shed.

In 1974 the Association moved to the then newly built P.B. Ronald Indoor Sports Complex on the Pakenham Recreation Reserve in Henry St.

In July 1997 the Association moved to the present location now known as Cardinia Life.  The stadium, with four basketball courts, was then known as the Pakenham Indoor Sports Complex (PISC).

In 2008, the Facility underwent a major redevelopment and is now called Cardinia Life. It boasts a 25m swimming pool, gym and aerobics room as well as four new basketball courts (now 8 in total), a creche, Canteen and 2 Separate Private Rooms. 

The Cardinia Shire hires venue managers to run the facility including basketball however the basketball operates under the management of the PDBA who hold the affiliation with Basketball Victoria. The PDBA manage the following:

  • Domestic Basketball
    • senior
    • junior
    • Ford aussie hoops
  • Representative Basketball
    • junior
    • senior

Domestic basketball runs 5 nights/days a week with Senior, Junior, and Mixed competitions. This involves approximately 500 teams and 3500 players.

The Senior Representative arm of the Association is the Pakenham Warriors who currently have teams represented in

  • Big V Men (Div 1) and Women (Championship)
  • Big V Youth League Men (Div 2) and Women (Div 1)

Since the Association’s involvement in these competitions, there has been increasing success, which should continue as the population of the area increases.

The Pakenham and District Basketball Association is actively involved with representative basketball teams at Junior Level as well which compete in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL).  

The representative program also provides many pathways for junior players to play at higher levels. Players will be provided with information about Basketball Victoria Camps and events that may allow them to one day represent Victoria, or progress higher. The opportunity to compete in the VJBL also allows scope for the Pakenham and District Basketball Association to develop their coaches and referees to a higher standard. Our coaches are encouraged to attend the many development opportunities offered by Basketball Victoria, such as Camps and Clinics, and the referees are given development opportunities to allow them to progress through the refereeing ranks.

The Competition

Pakenham Warriors teams compete in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) which provides for representative level basketball and the competition is run by Basketball Victoria.

The VJBL is played on a Friday evening at associated venues across the state. Each week approx. 1050 teams participate in the competition which equates to about 507 games on 150 Courts. The VJBL is arguably the largest competitions of its kind, offering a graduated system of junior basketball competition.

The VJBL is made up of associations who enter representative teams. In most cases, these teams are selected from a ‘domestic’ competition that is played out of that particular association.

The League was designed to give keen junior basketball players an opportunity to participate at a more competitive level than their local domestic competitions. The VJBL allows teams to compete against composite teams from other Associations. The competition has developed as such to incorporate Associations Victoria wide.

All junior players will spend a maximum of two years in each of the age groups. The age group classifications for all players is no different to domestic basketball where there are also top and bottom age players playing in the age groups.

The VJBL is one of the strongest breeding grounds for elite players graduating to the senior ranks. Most associations treat their junior representative programs as such and provide opportunities for players to advance. There are several players competing for Australia at the senior level that have come through the VJBL program including Liz Cambage, Penny Taylor, Jenna O’Hea, Sam Richards, Rachel Jarry, Kathleen McLeod, David Anderson, David Barlow, Andrew Bogut, Josh Giddey and many more.

All representative teams play on Friday nights. Be aware, from the outset that this involves a lot of travel to various basketball venues around the Melbourne metropolitan area and, in some cases, to some country venues. This does require a high level of commitment from parents and players as players are expected to attend all games and we would hope that parents would also enjoy watching their child play. So players, please thank your parents at the end of the night.

It is encouraged that all Pakenham Warriors Representative players play in the Pakenham & District Basketball Domestic competition.