Central Australian Basketball League - History

History

The South Australian Metropolitan Basketball Association was founded in 1936. All games were played at Duncan Buildings, Franklin Street, Adelaide with 16 teams competing. After World War II, basketball resumed at the O.B.I. in the city, and suburban drill halls, with 27 teams. In the 36 times the Australian Championships was held between 1946 and 1984, South Australia won 14 titles and finished second another 13 times. The Australian Women's Championship first was held in 1955 and was held 29 times until it too was discontinued in 1984. South Australia won the title 14 times and finished second another 11 times.

In 1951, the District Association was formed and in 1953 the Forestville Stadium, with one court, was built, then the first of its kind in Australia. By 1954, there were 57 teams competing in all grades in the District Association. In 1956 a second court was built at Forestville and in 1958, a third.

The Association continued to grow at a rapid rate and in 1961, Bowden Stadium was built with two courts. In 1963, a third court was built at Bowden.

By 1964, 350 teams were competing in all grades of the Association and further expansion was needed to house all the teams wanting to play. So, in 1965 the first court was built at Marion with a second added in 1966.

As the Association grew, a landmark in Australian and South Australian basketball came about in 1969 when the Apollo Entertainment Centre was built. It had one court and at the time had the capacity to seat 4,000 people (reduced in the early 1980's to 3,000 with the installation of bucket seats) and became the home for basketball in South Australia providing offices for the administration of the B.A.S.A. It was a beginning for many more buildings to come until the major boom for basketball occurred in the 1980s with the formation of the National Basketball League in 1979.

Meanwhile, the Basketball Association of South Australia continued to grow and expand. In 1971, two courts were built at Hillcrest. In 1975, two more courts were built at Colonel Light Gardens and in 1976, two were built at Morphett Vale. A third court was added in 1985 and a fourth five years later.

In 1980, Barry Richardson was installed as General Manager of the Association and he consolidated the Association’s assets and continued its growth.

1985 marked the formation of the Adelaide 36ers as the one team representing South Australia in the National Basketball League. This sparked a tremendous upsurge in the involvement and interest of both the public and media in the State.

In 1986, the Association expanded even further with the addition of the Woodlands Sporting Complex at Athol Park, housing four basketball courts and both indoor and outdoor tennis courts. The year also was memorable for the Adelaide West End 36ers winning the National Basketball League championship for the first time.

The State Basketball League and the Netball Association had begun consistently to attract sell-out crowds to their grand finals at the Apollo, setting the scene for a feasibility study into the development of a multi-sports complex.

The 8,000 seat Clipsal Powerhouse (later renamed the Adelaide Arena) was opened on Thursday, 19 December 1991 at a cost of $16 million with the capacity to revert to a three-court international-standard facility.

In 1998 the State Basketball League joined the expanding Australian Basketball Association as the Central Australian Basketball League Conference.