Senior Program Review

The Southern Peninsula Basketball Association has recently conducted a full review of our Senior Sharks (Big V) Program; which also included a workshop and planning component regarding the future of the program, and the underpinning development programs.

The key areas of focus within the review were exploring the following:

1. What’s the best-fit pathway for our Junior & Senior Programs/Players
2. How do we best utilize resources to continually grow as a Program

The overall long-term goal for each program has not changed, both programs are still focused on competing at the highest level within Big V, being State Championship Division, with the goal of having our Men’s Program competing alongside our Women’s Program in State Championship Division by 2021.

The underpinning programs were also discussed, with the viability of our Youth League Women’s Program being reviewed at great length, as was the area of entering a Youth League Men’s Program for the 2019 Big V season.

In regards to both Youth League Programs, it was agreed that the SPBA will not enter Youth League teams in to the Big V competition for the foreseeable future, and will reshape our development pathway to better suit the needs of our Junior and Senior Pathways.

With the high amount of Junior Sharks Program players that are promoted to the Senior Sharks Program each year, or that have been invited to train on a weekly basis with our Senior Sharks Program teams, the pool of players that we have to build a Youth League Program has become over stretched and no longer a viable option for our development pathway.

The Southern Peninsula Basketball Association will be releasing a new look development pathway for our Junior and Senior Sharks players in the coming months, which will be exploring the possibilities of entering teams in to the Basketball Victoria Country – Country Basketball League (CBL), as a form of development for our players during the off-season of the Big V competition.

The Southern Peninsula Basketball Association will also be offering MUVJBL U21’s for both our Men’s and Women’s programs for the coming season, with the aim of making U21’s a permanent part of our Junior Sharks Program on a yearly basis. The basic overview of the new player pathway would be as follows:

1. Junior Development Level – MUVJBL U12’s to U18’s
2. Youth Intermediate Level – MUVJBL U21’s
3. Youth Advanced Level – Country Basketball League
4. Senior Elite Level – Big V Senior Sharks Program

If you require anything further regarding the above, please feel free to contact the Southern Peninsula Basketball Association – Director of Coaching, Gerard Hillier via ghillier@sharksbasketball.com.au