Perth Redbacks
| Perth Redbacks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leagues | State Basketball League |
| Founded | 1989 |
| History |
Perth Redbacks 1989–present |
| Arena | Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre |
| Location | Bentley, Western Australia |
| Team colors | Red, black, white |
| Main sponsor | Texture WA |
| President | David Simonette |
| Head coach |
M: Nik Lackovic W: Keith Horwood |
| Team captain |
M: Joel Wagner W: Jessica Jakens |
| 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.
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.
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