Basketball in Australia - wikipedia Basketball in Australia Basketball in Australia Eight - time NBL champions, the Perth Wildcats Country Australia Governing body Basketball Australia National team Australia Nickname ( s ) Boomers ( Men ) Opals ( Women ) First played 23 February 1897, Adelaide, South Australia Clubs 415 ( Men ) 79 ( Women ) 638 ( Total ) National competitions List Summer Olympics FIBA Oceania Championship FIBA Oceania Championship for Women FIBA Basketball World Cup FIBA Women 's Basketball World Cup Club competitions List Professional National Basketball League Women 's National Basketball League Semi-professional Big V Premier League Queensland Basketball League South East Australian Basketball League State Basketball League Waratah League Audience records Single match 17,800 ( 1999 ) NBL : Sydney Kings v West Sydney Razorbacks ( Sydney Super Dome ) Season 725,494 - 2003 - 04 NBL season Basketball is a sport played both indoors and outdoors in Australia. Basketball is the number two sport globally with 213 countries participating in basketball internationally and with over 450 million players regularly playing the game. According to research conducted by Sweeney Sports, one in three Australians have an interest in basketball. Furthermore, basketball is played by approximately one million men and women, boys and girls throughout Australia. According to Basketball Australia, as of March 2014, basketball is the second highest team participation sport in Australia. Basketball in Australia experienced a golden age in the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, during which the National Basketball League saw it halcyon days. Back then, kids in singlets roamed basketball courts around Australia trying to emulate guys like Andrew Gaze, Scott Fisher, Bruce Bolden or Leroy Loggins. However, its popularity, media attention, attendance and corporate support deteriorated during the 2000s. Despite this, figures released by the Australian Sports Commission 's Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey in 2010 showed that basketball was the most popular sport played in the state of Victoria. Contents 1 History 2 National League 3 National teams 4 League system 5 References 6 External links History The first press reference to a game of basketball in Australia is from `` The Adelaide Advertiser '' -- Mail Steamers section, on Wednesday 17 February 1897 reporting that the following Tuesday at the opening of Our Boys Institute, claimed to be the largest gymnasium in the colonies, OBI would play YMCA in the first exhibition of basketball in South Australia. There is no evidence of any game being played earlier elsewhere thus the first game of basketball was played in Australia on Tuesday 23 February 1897. This occurred only 6 years after the ' invention ' of the sport on 21 December 1891 by Canadian Dr. James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the International Young Men 's Christian Association Training School ( YMCA ) - today, Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. OBI and the YMCA continued to be at the forefront of the development early Adelaide basketball and now, more than 120 years later, basketball is one of the most popular participation sports in the country. National League The National Basketball League ( NBL ) is the top - level men 's basketball competition in Australia, which began in 1979. As a result, the sport experienced rapid growth in the 1980s with the influx of exciting American imports. Capitalising on growing interest in the sport, the national competition became a huge hit in the major cities. By the late 1990s however, basketball in Australia went into sharp decline. According to three - time Adelaide 36ers championship coach Phil Smyth, Australian basketball administrators rested on their laurels during the 1990s when the sport was a major part of the national landscape. `` They let the brand get damaged, '' Smyth said. `` It 's that old saying ' if you keep doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result, you 're a fool -- and basketball was foolish. '' During the 2000s, interest in the NBL slowly began to dwindle, with many teams being forced to fold, arenas saw fluctuated attendances, and the league 's presence on TV was inconsistent. In 2015, a record number of Australians playing in the NBA led to a renewed popularity in the sport and showed Australians still loved basketball but were unsure about the national product. National teams The Boomers are the men 's basketball team which represents Australia in international competitions. As of 2016, the Boomers have won 19 FIBA Oceania Championships and one Commonwealth Games Gold Medal in 2006. They have never placed at the Olympic Games or World Cup ; their best finish being 4th place at the Olympics in 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2016, and 5th at the 1982 and 1994 World Cups. The women 's national team is the Opals. They have won Olympic silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008, Olympic bronze in 1996 and 2012, as well as gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championship and bronze at the 1998, 2002 and 2014 World Cups. League system Men Level Leagues National Basketball League 8 teams ( 1 from New Zealand ) Big V 12 teams Premier League 10 teams QBL 14 teams SBL 14 teams SEABL 15 teams Waratah League 11 teams Women Level Leagues Women 's National Basketball League 8 teams Big V 11 teams Premier League 10 teams QBL 14 teams SBL 12 teams SEABL 15 teams Waratah League 9 teams References Jump up ^ `` Basketball Australia : Key Facts ''. SportsTG.com. Retrieved 11 June 2017. Jump up ^ Langmaid, Aaron ( 27 June 2010 ). `` Basketball popularity exploding across Melbourne 's fringe ''. HeraldSun.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2017. Jump up ^ Green, Bradley ( 1 July 2010 ). `` Basketball numbers are booming in Geelong ''. GeelongAdvertiser.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : Turner, Matt ( 7 June 2015 ). `` Aussies shine in the NBA, so why is the NBL struggling ? ''. AdelaideNow.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2017. External links Basketball Australia official website NBL official website WNBL official website Basketball in Australia Basketball Australia National teams Men 's ( Boomers ) M U-21 M U-19 M U-17 M 3x3 Women 's ( Opals ) W U-21 W U-19 W U-17 W 3x3 Men 's Wheelchair Basketball ( Rollers ) Women 's Wheelchair Basketball ( Gliders ) Competitions NBL WNBL NWBL WNWBL ABA ( Champions ) Big V Premier League QBL SBL ( Champions ) SEABL ( Champions ) Waratah League Lists Teams Arenas Sport in Australia History Disabled sports Winter sport Women 's sport By state / territory ACT New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Team sports American football Australian rules football Baseball Basketball Cricket Field hockey Football Futsal Gaelic Games ( Gaelic football, hurling ) Ice hockey Lacrosse Netball Roller derby Rugby league Rugby union Soccer Softball Team Handball Vigoro Water polo Individual sports Athletics Badminton Bodybuilding Boxing Campdrafting Cycling Fives Golf Horse racing ( Thoroughbred, Harness, and Steeplechase ) Mixed martial arts Motorsport Pro Wrestling Sport Wrestling Surfing Skeleton Skiing Swimming Tennis Trugo Wood Cutting International competitions Olympics ( Winter ) Paralympics ( Winter ) Commonwealth Games Baseball World Cup Cricket World Cup FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA World Cup FIFA Women 's World Cup Rugby World Cup Basketball in Oceania Sovereign states Australia Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Associated states of New Zealand Cook Islands Niue Dependencies and other territories American Samoa Christmas Island Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands Easter Island French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Islands Tokelau Wallis and Futuna Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basketball_in_Australia&oldid=803571656 '' Categories : Basketball in Australia Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 3 October 2017, at 09 : 05. 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Question: who is the governing body for australian basketball
Answer: Basketball Australia