26-601: Rockingham Flames is an NBL1 West club based in Perth , Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of the Rockingham Basketball and Recreation Association (RBRA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Flames play their home games at Mike Barnett Sports Complex. In the early 1970s, Rockingham and Districts Basketball Association
52-526: A grand final berth. In 2012, the Flames women made history for the club by reaching their first ever grand final, where they lost 85–48 to the South West Slammers . Between 2013 and 2016, the Flames had a successful four-year run with women's import Sami Whitcomb and men's import Cooper Land . The pair both won multiple SBL MVPs, while Whitcomb led the Flames to two championships. In 2014,
78-495: A hugely successful season in 1987—reaching the NBL Grand Final in their first trip to the finals—attracting much television coverage, which saw basketball's popularity soar. In 1988, it was decided to form a State Basketball League for both men and women, and to develop it into an elite, statewide competition as soon as possible. This meant seeking out private owners and attracting corporate sponsorship, so as to not burden
104-679: A result, the SBL became the west conference of NBL1. The State Basketball League originated in 1972 as the District Competition. The District Competition was introduced by the Western Australian Basketball Federation (WABF) as an 'elite' competition held on Friday nights, featuring eight Perth -based associations from the prominent districts of Perth, Swan Districts, Tangney/Willetton, Subiaco, East Perth, Cockburn, Stirling, and Claremont. In 1986,
130-574: Is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conference: NBL1 South , NBL1 North , NBL1 Central , NBL1 West and NBL1 East , with each consisting of both men's and women's competitions. Each conference is run by their respective state governing body, with the league including 72 clubs from across every state and territory. The NBL1 in 2019
156-670: The Knox Raiders . In 2024 , the Flames women finished the regular season in first place with an 18–2 record and went on to reach the NBL1 West grand final. In the grand final, the Flames defeated the Cockburn Cougars 97–81 to win their fourth title. They went on a 21–2 run in the last five minutes to overrun the Cougars, including scoring 19 consecutive points. Women Men NBL1 West NBL1 West , formerly
182-670: The Northern Territory featured in the North Conference for three seasons before withdrawing following the 2024 season. In 2020, the Central Conference joined the league, becoming the third conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former South Australian Premier League . The Central Conference currently consists of 10 clubs, all of which are based in South Australia . In 2021,
208-746: The Rainbow Coast Raiders from Albany were the first, followed by the Batavia Buccaneers from Geraldton and the Souwest Slammers from Bunbury . The expanded SBL, which was limited to men's teams in 1989, was sponsored by McDonald's and Skywest , with a $ 65,000 grant from the State Government to help with travel costs. In 2017, the SBL shifted to the 40-minute game format in-line with FIBA, with games consisting of ten minute quarters as opposed to
234-604: The State Basketball League (SBL) the new West Conference. The inaugural NBL1 National Finals was set to take place in 2021, comprising the champions of the four conferences. However, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Conference later cancelled the remaining weeks of its season due to ongoing complications with the pandemic. In 2022 , the league expanded to five conferences after partnering with Basketball New South Wales to make
260-569: The State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia , comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to bring NBL1 to Western Australia. NBL1 replaced the former SBL to create more professional pathways and opportunities for males and females playing basketball in Western Australia. As
286-714: The Waratah League the new East Conference. Additionally, a club from Darwin , Northern Territory , the Darwin Salties , joined the North Conference in 2022 which saw the NBL1 become the first Australian sport league to have clubs based in and playing out of every state and territory in Australia. The NBL1 National Finals took place for the first time in 2022. Founded in 2019, the South Conference
SECTION 10
#1732790823970312-688: The SBL was rebranded as NBL1 West . The Flames men went on to reach the NBL1 West Grand Final to mark their first grand final appearance in their history, where they were defeated 92–82 by the Perry Lakes Hawks . In 2022 , the Flames men reached their second straight grand final, where they defeated the Geraldton Buccaneers 91–79 to win their maiden championship . At the NBL1 National Finals ,
338-734: The West Conference joined the league, becoming the fourth conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former Western Australian State Basketball League (SBL). The West Conference currently consists of 14 clubs, all of which are based in Western Australia . In 2022, the East Conference joined the league, becoming the fifth conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former New South Wales Waratah League . The East Conference currently consists of 16 clubs, with 14 based in New South Wales and two based in
364-535: The association. As part of basketball's development, the Western Australian Institute of Sport men's team was included in the SBL under Warren Kuhn. Simon Leunig, who had been the WABF's development officer, was appointed general manager of the SBL, and set about organising an expanded league for 1989. His marketing strategy paid off, and three new franchises were established in country areas:
390-428: The competition was rebranded as the "State League". This name continued in 1987, but 1987 was something of a watershed year for the WABF, as the entire structure of the game in Western Australia was being reconsidered. A census in 1987 showed that 61 percent of WABF members were from country areas, so it was decided to try to include several country teams in the state's premier basketball league. The Perth Wildcats had
416-643: The first two rounds of the finals. In the grand final, they defeated the Willetton Tigers 68–63 to claim back-to-back titles. In 2019, the Flames women finished the regular season in seventh position with a 13–9 record before reaching the WSBL Grand Final after going undefeated over the first two rounds of the finals. In the grand final, the Flames defeated the Warwick Senators 85–56 to win their third WSBL championship. In 2021 ,
442-529: The inclusion of the former NSW Waratah League . In October 2018, following the demise of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), Basketball Victoria announced a new senior elite league to take the reins as Australia's pre-eminent semi-professional basketball league. All Victorian-based SEABL teams joined the new league, while Eltham Wildcats , Knox Raiders , Ringwood Hawks and Waverley Falcons also joined
468-559: The league from the Big V . The North-West Tasmania Thunder men and Launceston Tornadoes women also kept their place, as did Basketball Australia 's Centre of Excellence teams. In February 2019, the league was named NBL1 after Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL). After a successful first season in 2019 , the NBL expanded the NBL1 in 2020 by introducing Basketball Victoria's inaugural 2019 league and teams as
494-578: The new South Conference and partnering with Basketball Queensland and Basketball South Australia to make the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and South Australian Premier League the new North and Central conferences. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 season was cancelled for all three conferences. In 2021 , the league expanded to four conferences after partnering with Basketball Western Australia to make
520-537: The team was crowned national champions with an 85–74 win over the Frankston Blues in the championship game. In 2023 , the Flames men finished the regular season in first place with a 19–3 record to win their first ever minor premiership. They went on to lose to the Joondalup Wolves in the preliminary final. At the NBL1 National Finals , the team reached the grand final where they lost 90–85 to
546-442: The twelve minute quarters under the previous 48-minute format. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 SBL season was cancelled and later replaced by the amateur-based West Coast Classic . In October 2020, Basketball Western Australia and the National Basketball League (NBL) announced a new partnership to bring NBL1 to Western Australia in 2021, with NBL1 replacing the SBL. The SBL was officially renamed NBL1 West and became
SECTION 20
#1732790823970572-426: The west conference of NBL1. The Willetton Tigers have won the most championships in the women's competition with 9 Grand Final wins, while the Perry Lakes Hawks have won the most championships in the men's competition with 7 Grand Final wins. The Hawks women have also amassed seven titles, making Perry Lakes the most successful club in league history with a total of 14 championships. NBL1 The NBL1
598-499: The women collected the club's first-ever minor premiership with a first-place finish and a 20–2 record. They went undefeated over the first two rounds of the finals to reach their second grand final, where they defeated Lakeside Lightning 80–75 to claim their maiden WSBL championship. In 2015, the women finished as minor premiers for the second straight year, once again with a 20–2 record. They made their way through to their third WSBL Grand Final in four years after going undefeated over
624-434: Was a single league and consisted of one conference. That conference would go on to become the South Conference in 2020 after the inclusion of the former Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and South Australian Premier League saw them become the new North and Central conferences. The league grew to four conferences in 2021 with the inclusion of the former WA State Basketball League (SBL) and then five conferences in 2022 with
650-420: Was established. The Rockingham Flames made their debut in the State Basketball League (SBL) in 1992 in the form of a women's team, becoming the first club to introduce a women's program before a men's program. In 1994, a Rockingham Flames men's team entered the Men's SBL. The club saw little success over their first 20 seasons in the SBL, with neither the women or the men winning a minor premiership or earning
676-657: Was the only NBL1 conference during its inaugural season and predominantly consisted of teams from the defunct South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). The South Conference currently has 20 clubs spread across Victoria , Tasmania and South Australia . In 2020, the North Conference joined the league, becoming the second conference introduced following NBL1's merger with the former Queensland Basketball League (QBL). The North Conference currently consists of 12 clubs, all based in Queensland . The Darwin Salties from
#969030