Perth Redbacks

Perth Redbacks
Leagues State Basketball League
Founded 1989
History Burswood Redbacks
1989–2001
Perth Redbacks
2002–present
Arena Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre
Location Bentley, Western Australia
Team colors Red, black, white
Main sponsor Texture WA
President Anthony Nixon
Head coach M: Nik Lackovic
W: Keith Horwood
Team captain M: Joel Wagner
W: Rebecca Benson
Championships 3 (1989, 1990, 1997) (M)
2 (1989, 2000) (W)
Website PerthRedbacks.asn.au

Perth Redbacks is a State Basketball League (SBL) club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's SBL (MSBL) and Women's SBL (WSBL). The club is a division of Perth Basketball Association (PBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in Perth's eastern suburbs and across the CBD. The Redbacks play their home games at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Texture WA Perth Redbacks.

Club history

Background

Perth Basketball Association (PBA) began life in 1964 as the Perth Men's Basketball Club. The original name was a conscious decision to distinguish the club from a netball club as netball was also known as basketball in Australia at that time. The founders of the club were Bob Symons and Peter Simper who were playing A-grade basketball for the University Basketball Club in the City of Perth's A-grade basketball competition in the early 1960s. Some of the other teams playing in the City's A-grade competition were Subiaco, Highgate, YMCA-Perth and Scarborough-YMCA.

A number of players in the University team had graduated from the University of Western Australia (UWA) several years earlier and were technically no longer eligible to play for the University club. Bob Symons also believed that it was time for a new team to play at the top level in the men's competition run by the Amateur Basketball Association of WA at the new and modern three-court basketball stadium at Perry Lakes, five kilometres west of the Perth CBD. Symons captain-coached the first senior men's team. The other players included Peter Simper, Graham Smith, Len Vlahov and Richard Longley. Simper, Vlahov and Longley were also all former UWA students. An A-reserve team was also formed to take up the other interested players. The club experienced success almost immediately, with the 1965 season concluding with Perth defeating YMCA-Perth in the grand final. This success was followed by wins in the 1970 and 1973 grand finals, and runners-up in 1968 and 1975.

From 1964 until 1975, the club remained a men's basketball club with three senior teams and a number of under 16 and under 18 junior boy's teams. Under the leadership of Edmund Rogers and others, the Perth club began a very successful junior boy's development program emphasising strong fundamentals. The program produced many skilful and talented players who represented WA at national basketball carnivals.

In 1975, the Amateur Basketball Association of WA required all eight major basketball clubs in the Perth metropolitan area to field a women's team. Swan Districts and East Perth joined the District competition (formerly A-grade competition) and all clubs were allocated districts to work and promote the game. Clubs such as Subiaco and Highgate, however, did not join and either merged with other clubs or played in the lower ranked Metropolitan (Metro) competition. That same year, the Perth Men's Basketball Club became known as Perth Basketball Association in keeping with the new structure. That season, the Perth men finished runners-up and the Perth women won the grand final.

In 1982, when the Weststate Wildcats entered the National Basketball League (NBL), several players from the PBA were in the Wildcats squad including Ed Cecins, Brad Cecins and Ian Frame. In 1984, the PBA men's A-grade side were defeated by Cockburn 86–78 in the District championship game.[1]

SBL

1989 saw the formation of the State Basketball League (SBL) with both a men's and women's competition. Perth, trading as the Redbacks, entered a team into both the MSBL and WSBL. Both teams were successful in winning the championship in 1989, with coach Don Shepherd guiding both teams. The following season, also under coach Shepherd, the men defended their title. Norm Majors coached the Redbacks men to their third title in 1997, while Rod Justin coached the women to their second title in the year 2000.[2] The women's team were also runners-up under coach Abe Kassab in 2001.

Over the first 13 seasons of the SBL, the Redbacks men and women were dominant units. However, the turn of the century saw the club fall from grace. Since 2001, neither the men or women have reached the grand final despite numerous playoff appearances.

In 2014, the Redbacks men reached the semi-finals after finishing in third place on the ladder with a 17–9 win/loss record. It was the team's best regular-season finish since 2001, when they finished third with a 19–7 record.[3] In 2015, American forward Ray Turner was named the Most Valuable Player of the MSBL.[4] He became just the third Redback to win the award after Dwaine Michaels (1997) and Ryan Neill (2004).

Heading into the 2017 season, the Redbacks men had arguably the most experienced and accomplished frontcourt in SBL history with the additions of NBL stalwarts Shawn Redhage and Alex Loughton.[5]

Current roster

References

  1. ↑ "1984 Championship - Cockburn Cougars V Perth Redbacks". YouTube.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Redbacks hit 50". CommunityNews.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "2015 SBL Media Guide". SportsTG.com. p. 45. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "2015 Award Winners". SportsTG.com. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Loughton joins Redhage as Redbacks open season with a bang". SportsTG.com. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
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