The National under-14 Club Championships set to tip-off on Sunday

48 teams (24 girls and 24 boys) descend on Ballarat this week, with only two teams destined to walk away as tournament champions.

From September 30 to October 5, the rising stars of Australian basketball will do battle at the brand new Ballarat Sports and Events Centre, as well as the traditional home of Ballarat basketball, the Mars Minerdome.

The Club Championships will be a truely national event, with clubs from every state and territory participating. Victorian clubs have traditionally fared well at the tournament, taking home five out of a possible ten gold medals since 2014.

In the girls’ section, the Gold Coast Waves will be returning to defend the title they won at last year’s event when they defeated the Sandringham Sabres 53-38. The Waves begin their campaign for back-to-back gold medals in the championship division at 1:00pm on Monday (AEST), when they square off against Hawthorn Magic.

The boys’ title is wide open this year, with last year’s champions, the Eltham Wildcats, unable to qualify for the tournament. As well as the absence of 2018’s gold medalists, the second and third-placed teams in the 2018 championship division will also not be competing this year. The stage is set for new teams to step up to the plate and claim the vacant crown.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Ballarat Sports & Events Centre at 10am, on Monday the 30th of September, leading up to two days of pool play, as the competing clubs are split into six different groups to start.

At the conclusion of two days of pool play, clubs will be split up into shield and championship divisions, culminating in gold medal games for both divisions on Saturday.

The girls shield gold medal game will be held at 11:00am, with the boys to follow at 12:30. The girls’ championship gold medal game will tip-off at 5pm, with the boys again to follow, with a 6:30pm tip time.

The closing ceremony and medal presentations will take place at the conclusion of the boys’ championship gold medal game.

Tickets for the 2019 under-14 club championships can be purchased here, while the full fixture can be located right here.

For a pdf version of the draw: Click here