1981 WIBC season

Last updated

1981 WIBC season
League Women's National Basketball League
Sport Basketball
Duration19 June 1981 –
Number of teams9
TV partner(s) ABC
Regular season
Top seedNorth Adelaide Rockets
Top scorerJulie Nykiel (Noarlunga Tigers)
Finals
ChampionsSt. Kilda Saints
  Runners-upNorth Adelaide Rockets
WNBL seasons
 None

The Women's Interstate Basketball Conference (WIBC) was the inaugural season of what would become the Australian Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

Contents

History

On 4 October 1980, during the Australian Women’s Club Championship in Sydney, a meeting of delegates from six of the leading clubs in Australian women’s basketball was held. The clubs were North Adelaide Rockets, West Adelaide Bearcats and Glenelg from South Australia and CYMS (Catholic Young Men's Society), Melbourne Telstars and St. Kilda Saints from Victoria. [1]

The meeting resolved to form a two-round competition between these teams to be held in July and August in 1981. The basis for the idea was that many of the top sides in both states wanted a varied competition from their standard state leagues as well as a suitable preparation for the Australian Club Championship, which was held on an annual basis for the top 24 teams in the country. With the formation of the men's National Basketball League in 1979, the women felt that one of the best ways to develop the game was to provide more opportunities for the best players and clubs to play against each other more regularly. [1]

A major consideration was finance and with this in mind the competition was formed with the six teams with a full home and away series between all teams with three games on one weekend to save costs. The New South Welsh teams of Bankstown Bruins and Sutherland Sharks were not happy due to costs and offered to pay their own way to Melbourne and Adelaide where they would play each team once for double points. [1]

In 1981, the Australian Institute of Sport was also opened and the men's head coach Dr. Adrian Hurley contacted the clubs and asked whether the AIS could also participate in the competition to commence later that year. [1]

The competition commenced on 19 June 1981 with the first game to be played in Adelaide between the AIS and West Adelaide Bearcats. [1]

The competition was named the Women’s Interstate Basketball Conference with each the teams paying the sum of $25 to be a part of the WIBC – giving a central fund of $200 to conduct the competition. [1]

Ladder

The ladder at the end of the regular season. [2]

TeamPlayedWonLostForAgainstWon %%
1 North Adelaide Rockets 1310383271377116.69
2St. Kilda Saints1311289275185118.77
3 West Adelaide Bearcats 13678038484694.69
4Melbourne Telstars138588078662111.96
5 Bankstown Bruins 106459957160104.9
6Catholic Young Men's Society13588078403896.07
7 Noarlunga Tigers 13498289573186.52
8 Australian Institute of Sport 10285816562088.57
9Sutherland Sharks10285236232083.95

Finals

Semi-finals Grand Final
      
2St Kilda Saints80
3 West Adelaide Bearcats 53
2St Kilda Saints77
1 North Adelaide Rockets 58
1North Adelaide Rockets66
4 Melbourne Telstars 63

The inaugural winner was St. Kilda Saints defeating North Adelaide Rockets 77 points to 58. St. Kilda Saints also went on to win the Victorian State Championship and the Australian Club Championship in Melbourne defeating Bankstown Bruins in the final. St. Kilda Saints had three Australian representatives in Tracy Morris, Karen Ogden and Patricia Cockrem. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's National Basketball League</span> Womens professional basketball league in Australia

The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Adelaide Bearcats</span> Basketball team in Port Adelaide, South Australia

West Adelaide Bearcats is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching West Adelaide Basketball Club (WABC), the major administrative basketball organisation in Adelaide's western suburbs. The Bearcats play their home games at Port Adelaide Recreation Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Canberra Capitals</span> Basketball team in Canberra, Australia

The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberra Union took control of the Capitals from Basketball ACT. The University of Canberra is the current naming rights sponsor for the Capitals.

The 1979 NBL season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball League (NBL). The championship was decided by a sudden death Grand Final between first and second.

The 1981 NBL season was the third season of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Philip John SmythAM is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He won three National Basketball League (NBL) championships with the Canberra Cannons before going on to be a three-time championship-winning head coach of the NBL's Adelaide 36ers. Smyth was a four-time Olympian with the Australian national basketball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geelong United (NBL1 South)</span> Defunct basketball team from Geelong, Australia

Geelong United is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Victoria. Known as the Geelong Supercats for the overwhelming majority of its existence, the club fields teams in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. Previously managed by Basketball Geelong, the club is affiliated with Geelong United Basketball and plays its home games at the Geelong Arena.

Noarlunga City Tigers is a former South Australian State Basketball League club, National Basketball League (NBL) team, and Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Known as the Glenelg Tigers in 1979, the Tigers competed in the NBL's inaugural season before deciding to leave the league due to financial reasons. In the WNBL, the Tigers competed in the league's first 11 seasons. In the SA State League, the Tigers won 11 championships across their men's and women's teams up until 2003.

Rachael Pamela Sporn is an Australian former basketball player and three-time Olympian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Flames</span> Basketball team in Sydney, New South Wales

The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Quaycentre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Veal</span> Australian basketball player

Kristen Veal is an Australian basketball player. She won three Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) championships as a member of the Canberra Capitals, and has also played for the Sydney Uni Flames and the Logan Thunder. She was drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft, and was the youngest player to ever play in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has represented Australia as a member of the Australia women's national basketball team.

Donna Quinn is a former Australian women's basketball player.

Marisa Rowe is a former Australian women's basketball player.

Karen Blicavs is a former Australian women's basketball player.

Jessica Mary Ellen Foley is a retired Australian basketballer and Australian rules footballer. As a basketballer, Foley represented Australia at both junior and senior levels and played for Duke in college basketball in the United States. As an Australian rules footballer, Foley played for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW), playing in an AFL Women's premiership in her first season.

The 1981 NBL Finals was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball League's 1981 season, which began in February. The finals began on 27 June. The tournament concluded with the Launceston Casino City defeating the Nunawading Spectres in the NBL Grand Final on 28 June.

Louella Brooke Tomlinson is an Australian former professional basketball player. She retired in June 2021.

Lorraine May Landon is an Australian basketball administrator and former player and coach. She was introduced to the game of basketball through the Bankstown Bruins and represented the New South Wales team between 1968 and 1975. Landon was general manager of the Bankstown Association and the Bankstown Basketball Stadium's manager and was the volunteer tea manager of the Australia women's national basketball team. She was subsequently appointed manager of the National Basketball League's (NBL) Sydney Kings and the Women's National Basketball League's (WNBL) Sydney Uni Flames and guided both the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team and the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team to Paralympic success. Landon is an inductee of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame and received honours such as the FIBA Order of Merit and the Australian Sports Medal.

Reginald Leonardo Biddings was an American professional basketball player who spent his career in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) and South East Basketball League (SEBL). Biddings holds the NBL record for most points scored in a 40-minute game with 63 points.

North Adelaide Rockets is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching North Adelaide Basketball Club (NABC), the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Rockets play their home games at The Lights Community & Sports Centre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History of the WNBL". Women's National Basketball League. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  2. "Media Guide 2011/12: Records & Statistics" (PDF). Women's National Basketball League: 142. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20120318214857/http://www.wnbl.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Media_Guide/2011_12/Team_Profiles/10041_BASKAUST_MEDIA_GUIDE_2011-12_WNBL_BACK.pdf