Nunawading Spectres one of the inaugural 18 chosen for new state elite competition

The Nunawading Spectres will take a front-row seat for a new era of Victorian basketball after being one of the initial 18 licensees announced by Basketball Victoria for its new state elite competition set to take the court in 2019.

The Nunawading Spectres will take a front-row seat for a new era of elite basketball in the state after being one of the initial 18 licensees announced by Basketball Victoria for its new state elite competition set to take the court in 2019.

With the demise of the South-East Australian Basketball League, Basketball Victoria fielded a large number of expressions of interest in a new top flight competition and, after some quickfire organising, announced the competition last week (see story above).

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Nunawading Spectres and Hobart Chargers do battle in last year’s grand final. Picture: Jason Edwards

Nunawading Basketball operations manager Paul Flynn, himself a longtime SEABL veteran with the club and the current coach of the Spectres senior women, said the announcement heralded an exciting time for basketball in the state. And, all at Nunawading Stadium are pretty happy to be part of the picture after a hectic couple of weeks.

“We’ve done a lot of hard work in a very short time,” he said. “There was a small bit of wheels in motion so when Basketball Australia dropped the SEABL bomb on us, Basketball Victoria was ready.”

Though the Spectres have a long history of success at the elite level, including stints in the NBL and WNBL as well as being regular finalists in the former SEABL, Flynn said being named among the 18 successful candidates was about the club’s program as a whole not purely the top flight.

“Basketball Victoria said, ‘if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this properly’,” he said. “And they asked us, ‘How do you promote the game, not just at the elite level?’. They said: ‘If you want to be part of this, you’d better be pretty proactive about promoting the sport’.”

Nunawading Spectres will be looking to add to the their long history of success Picture: Ian Knight (Militia Media)

The return of former SEABL power Knox Raiders to the top level, along with Nunawading, Kilsyth, Dandenong and Frankston, and the elevation of Big V leaders Ringwood and Waverley, makes for some exciting neighbourhood derby clashes when the new competition tips off.

“It’s exciting for us,” Flynn said. “For the most part, it’s the teams we’ve played in the past with a few new ones thrown in. It’s going to make it pretty interesting, particularly in Melbourne’s south-east.”