Frankston Blues

Last updated

Frankston Blues
Frankston Blues.png
Leagues NBL1 South
Founded1981
HistoryMen:
Frankston Bears
1981–1984
Bayside Blues
1986–1993
Frankston Blues
1994–present
Women:
Bayside Blues
1990–1992
Frankston Blues
1993–present
ArenaFrankston Basketball Stadium
Location Seaford, Victoria
Team colorsNavy blue, light blue and white
   
Main sponsorFrankston RSL
Powerade
Head coachM: Andrew Harms
W: Dean Kinsman
ChampionshipsMen:
ABA (1)
SEABL (1)
Women:
ABA (3)
SEABL (3)
Conference titlesMen:
SEABL (6)
Website fdba.com.au

Frankston Blues is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Frankston & District Basketball Association (FDBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the City of Frankston. The Blues play their home games at Frankston Basketball Stadium.

Contents

Club history

Background

The FDBA's origins can be traced back to 1959, when a group of students from the Frankston Teachers' College travelled to Albert Park for a tournament where they met other players from Frankston. Through these contacts made, a few games were organised to cater for the need in the Frankston area. The earliest games were played at the Balcombe Army Barracks. The Army and Navy had teams involved, but no formal competition existed. It is thought that the first President of the FDBA was an NCO from the Army who happened to be on an inservice at the time. [1]

In 1960, the College built a gymnasium. Teams from the YMCA and Seaford joined in and most of the administration was done by the teams on a rotational basis, such as collecting fees and marking lines. The President of the College, George Jenkins, was happy for the students to be involved in such activity as long as there was a formal structure, and financial accountability was in place. A staff team joined in the early 1960s and helped in negotiations with other groups, who were constantly in competition for use of the Gymnasium on the Campus. This staff team remained a vital part of the competition until the early 1970s. [1]

In the early 1970s, the Police and Citizens Club built the existing facility at the Towerhill Road site. This, along with Ballam Park Technical School, was the site of the FDBA until one of many approaches over the years to Frankston City Council was successful, and the two-court stadium at Bardia Avenue was built and opened on 9 March 1979. [1]

Early years of the Bears

At the time that ground was broken for the stadium, moves were also made to bring a senior representative team to Frankston. Jason Placas negotiated to bring Tony Gaze from Dandenong, along with the nucleus of his team. Four of these players were Frankston junior players. The team competed in the VBA Championships in 1979 and 1980, and joined the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 1981. The 1981 season saw the Frankston Bears finish second on the SEABL ladder [2] before going on to reach the ABA National grand final, where they lost to the Geelong Cats. [3] After winning the SEABL championship and ABA National championship in 1982, the Bears joined the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1983 and competed at that level for two years, before financial pressures became too much for the Association to handle. [1]

Championship success

In 1986, Frankston joined forces with neighbouring Chelsea Association to form the Bayside Blues Basketball Club. This Club represented both Associations from 1986 to 1995, when Chelsea opted out because of financial commitments. [1] During this time, a Bayside Blues team joined the inaugural SEABL women's season in 1990. [2]

In 1991, the Bayside women finished second on the SEABL ladder [2] and reached the ABA National grand final, where they lost to the Dandenong Rangers. [3] In 1992, Bayside finished third on the SEABL ladder [2] and reached ABA National grand final, where they lost to the Knox Raiders. [3] In 1993, the Frankston Blues women finished first on the SEABL ladder [2] to win their maiden SEABL championship. [4] [5] They went on to defeat the Broadmeadows Broncos in the ABA National grand final to win their first National championship. [3] In 1994, they finished second on the SEABL ladder [2] and reached their fourth straight ABA National grand final, where they lost to the Knox Raiders. [3] In 1997, they finished first on the SEABL ladder [2] and won their second SEABL championship. [4] [5] They went on to defeat the Townsville Sunbirds in the ABA National grand final to win their second National championship. [3]

The men on the other hand were conference champions as Bayside in both 1992 and 1993 before they too changed their name to Frankston and won another conference championship in 1995. [6] They also won conference championships in 1998 and 2000, [6] and were National Runners-up in 1995 and 1998. [3] [7] The women's team went on to win the SEABL championship in 2004, [5] while the men's team won the South Conference title in 2009. [8]

In 2019, following the demise of the SEABL, the Blues joined the NBL1 South. [9] In 2022 at the NBL1 National Finals, the Blues men lost 85–74 in the championship game to the Rockingham Flames. [10]

NBL Season by season

NBL championsLeague championsRunners-upFinals berth
SeasonTierLeagueRegular seasonPost-seasonHead coach
FinishPlayedWinsLossesWin %
Frankston Bears
1983 1 NBL 6th22616.273Did not qualifyTony Gaze
1984 1 NBL 8th241014.417Did not qualifyTony Gaze
Regular season record461630.3480 regular season champions
Finals record000.0000 NBL championships

As of the end of the 1984 season

*Note: In 1983 and 1984, the NBL was split into Eastern and Western divisions during the regular season.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "HISTORY OF FRANKSTON BASKETBALL". FrankstonBasketball.asn.au. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "SEABL Ladders History" (PDF). seabl.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "ABA PREMIER AND RUNNERS-UP CLUBS". ABABasketball.net.au. Archived from the original on 7 April 2001.
  4. 1 2 "PAST CHAMPIONS". seabl.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 June 2002.
  5. 1 2 3 "FORMER CHAMPIONS". seabl.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 June 2008.
  6. 1 2 "SEABL ALL TIME AWARD WINNERS" (PDF). SEABL.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "FRANKSTON BLUES – HISTORY". BluesBasketball.net.au. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "RAIDERS WIN 2009 SEABL CHAMPIONSHIP". SportsTG.com. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2017. The Knox Ford Raiders have secured the 2009 SEABL Championship after an emphatic 125-98 victory over the favoured South Conference Champion Frankston Blues on Saturday night in front of over 1,800 spectators at MSAC (Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre). ... Earlier in the evening, the Raiders unfortunately couldn't make it a double celebration as the Knox Ford Raiders SEABL Women were defeated by the Brisbane Lady Spartans 77-69 in their Grand Final.
  9. ↑ "NBL1 to Showcase Next Level of Australia's Basketball Talent". NBL.com.au. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "NBL1 National Finals Recap | Men's Championship Game". nbl1.com.au. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
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