Australian Basketball Association

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This article is about the ABA in Australia. For the current ABA in America, see American Basketball Association (21st century).

Australian Basketball Association Logo

The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) is Australia's second-tiered, semi-professional basketball competition which sits under the NBL and the WNBL.

The ABA is representative of the huge number of junior-based associations across the country and is the endorsed national development league of the sport’s peak body, Basketball Australia.

The ABA incorporates five leagues – the SEABL, Big V, QABL, Central Australian Basketball League and Waratah League in both men's and women's competition.

[edit] Past Winners

Men's

Year	Location	Final	Grand Final MVP
1981	Albert Park Stadium	Geelong Cats 97 def Frankston Bears 88
1982	Albert Park Stadium	Frankston Bears 89 def Melbourne Tigers 87
1983	Albert Park Stadium	Melbourne Tigers 114 def Bulleen Boomers 102
1984	Coburg	Bulleen Boomers 109 def Chelsea Gulls 108
1985	Kilsyth	Kilsyth Cobras 98 def Bulleen Boomers 87
1986	Bendigo	Newcastle Hunters 124 def Sydney City Comets 117 (O/T)
1987	Devonport	Adelaide Buffalos 124 def Newcastle Hunters 102
1988	Broadmeadows	Bendigo Braves 121 def Bulleen Boomers 118
1989	Kilsyth	Ballarat Miners 125 def Bulleen Boomers 118
1990	Boronia (Knox)	Bulleen Boomers 128 def Ballarat Miners 101
1991	Boronia (Knox)	Knox Raiders 81 def Ballarat Miners 79
1992	Boronia (Knox)	Sydney City Comets 117 def Ballarat Miners 90
1993	Keilor	NE Melbourne Giants 124 def Murray Bridge 113
1994	Bendigo	Ballarat Miners 104 def Cairns Marlins 81	Eric Hayes - Ballarat
1995	Liverpool	Ballarat Miners 101 def Frankston Blues 86	Grant Keys - Ballarat
1996	Devonport	NW Tasmania Brewers 101 def Knox Raiders 88
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001	not held
2002	Bendigo	Hobart Chargers 98 def Australian Institute of Sport 93	Andrew Beattie - Hobart
2003	Bendigo	Mount Gambier Pioneers 127 def Ballarat Miners 113	Kurt Russell - Mt Gambier
2004	Geelong	Cairns Marlins 104 def NW Tasmania Thunder 100	Aaron Grabau - Cairns
2005	Geelong	Bendigo Braves 102 def Sydney Comets 98	Jason Cameron - Bendigo
2006	Newcastle	Geelong Supercats 94 def Dandenong Rangers 80

[edit] History

The ABA's roots can be traced back as far as 1965, when just eight clubs competed in the South Eastern Conference (SEC). The SEC continued until 1971 when the Australian Club Championships gained pre-eminence.

In 1981, the SEC was reborn as the South Eastern Australian Basketball League (SEABL) when the Australian Club Championships ceased to operate due to the rise of Australia’s first truly national competition, the now professional NBL.

The SEABL was divided into a South and East Conference format in 1986 with teams from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia.

In 1994 the bodies merged with the Queensland State League to create North, South and East Conferences and the league was renamed the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).

1998 saw further expansion with the inclusion of the Central Australian Basketball League Conference from South Australia conducting competitions for both men and women. In that same year, the switch of NBL and WNBL seasons to Summer enabled the ABA to offer professional players a showcase for their skills during the Winter months.

2000 saw the addition of Big V from Victoria and in 2001 the Waratah League from New South Wales and the league was once again renamed into the current Australian Basketball Association.

Since 2002, the champions of each of the five leagues and a number of wildcard entries competed at the inaugural Australian Basketball Club Champions Finals.