Summer 2026/27.

Registration is managed through your club, not directly with WBA. Choose a club from the Find Your Club section above, click their Register on PlayHQ link, and follow the steps. Once registered, the club will allocate your child to a team and let you know about training.

Age groups are determined by birth year for 2026/27 — see the Age Groups & Date of Birth section above. If your child is on the boundary between two age groups, contact your club — in some circumstances a player may be eligible to play up an age group.

The season opens Monday 5 October 2026. The regular season runs 15 rounds, followed by Semi-Finals (11–16 March 2027) and Grand Finals (18–23 March 2027). There is a break over the Christmas school holidays from 20 December 2026 to 29 January 2027.

Competition nights depend on age group and gender. Monday: U19 Boys. Tuesday: U14 & U16 Boys. Thursday: U10 Girls, U12 Boys (D1), U12/14/16 Girls, U19 Girls. Friday: U10 Boys, U12 Boys (D2–D5). Saturday mornings: U8 Boys & Girls. See the Weekly Draw section above for full detail.

No — the Junior Domestic Competition is part of WBA’s Participation Stream, not the performance pathway. Its purpose is player development, enjoyment and retention through to adulthood. The representative pathway (Junior Warriors / Country Rep / VJBL) is a separate program. Programs like Future Warriors Academy help bridge domestic players toward the representative pathway.

WBA uses a three-stage approach to ensure fairer draws. Stage 1 — Grade (Rounds 1–2): mini-games only, used to assess team strength; no ladder. Stage 2 — Validate (Rounds 3–5): full games begin; official ladder starts; grading adjustments can still be made after each round. Stage 3 — Season (Rounds 6–15): divisions are locked; every result counts; finals eligibility applies. The model was piloted in Winter 2026 and refined following a review in consultation with the Junior Committee.

The top 4 teams in each division qualify for finals. Semi-Finals run across two weeks (11–16 March 2027): 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. Winners advance to the Grand Final (18–23 March 2027). Finals are played in the same locked divisions as Stage 3. There is no home-court advantage — venues are allocated based on competition needs.

Competition is played across four venues: WARLC, Bellbird Park Indoor Centre Drouin (BPIC), Bunyip Recreation Reserve (BPR) and Neerim South Basketball Stadium (NSBS). Your specific venue and time for each game is confirmed in PlayHQ and communicated by your club ahead of each round.

Games may occasionally be rescheduled due to referee availability, venue conflicts or special events. Any changes will be communicated through your club and updated in PlayHQ. Check the fixture notes above for known events that may affect scheduling — such as Melbourne Cup week and the Warragul Tournament.

Yes — we welcome it. Playing up one age group is available to any player who wants a greater challenge or wants to play alongside older friends. A few key points:

• One age group only — never two or more (e.g. a U12 cannot play U16).
• You keep your own age group too — playing up is in addition to your natural age group, not instead of it. The player must meet finals qualification in both teams.
• Division limits apply — there are restrictions on which division a play-up player can enter, and representative players have additional restrictions. Full detail is in the WBA Junior Playing Conditions.
• There is a cost to play up — it’s charged at 50% of that season’s Association fee for the age group you’re playing up into, plus any club fee (speak to your club about theirs). Approval is arranged through your club, with prior sign-off from Association Operations before the player takes the court.
• Your own team comes first — if a play-up game clashes with your natural age group game, your own team takes priority for finals-qualification purposes.

Only in limited circumstances. Playing exclusively in a higher age group (rather than playing up and keeping your own) is reserved for situations where it genuinely makes sense for that child — specifically where there is no team available in their own age group that season, or where there is a welfare or safety reason that makes it the right call.

If neither applies, the answer isn’t no — it’s the play-up-and-own-age-group pathway above. Kids develop best and stay in the sport longest when they grow up alongside their peers, so a player who wants a higher challenge gets one without leaving their teammates behind.

This isn’t part of normal registration and isn’t available on request. We’ll consider it only where there’s a clear, supportable reason for that individual child — for example a diagnosed disability, developmental or medical circumstance, or a welfare or safety need — where playing in their own age group isn’t in the child’s best interests. These cases are looked at individually and usually require supporting documentation. Raise it with your club so the circumstances can be considered properly.

Start with your club — they’re the right first conversation. If a request needs Association sign-off, your club applies in writing to Association Operations on the player’s behalf. All approvals must be in place before the player takes the court. If you’re unsure where your child fits, just ask — we’d rather have the conversation early and get it right.

Game lengths vary by age group. All games have a 2-minute half-time break.

• U8: 2 × 12-minute halves
• U10: 2 × 18-minute halves
• U12, U14, U16 Boys, U19 Boys & U16/19 Girls: 2 × 20-minute halves

For regular season games, the clock runs continuously during most of the game. It stops on all whistles during the final 2 minutes of the second half only.

Under 8 is different: the clock runs continuously throughout the entire game — it does not stop in the final 2 minutes and there are no time-outs.

Each team receives 1 time-out per half (maximum 1 minute each). Time-outs are not permitted during the final 2 minutes of the first half, but are permitted during the final 2 minutes of the second half. Unused time-outs do not carry over between halves. Note: U8 teams do not have time-outs.

Games must start on time. A team may receive 1 penalty point per minute late. Late starts include delayed player readiness, delayed coach readiness, and delays entering players into the iPad scoring system. Please ensure your team is warmed up and ready well before your scheduled tip-off.

No — WBA runs single-sex U8 competitions, and this is a deliberate policy. Research consistently links single-sex settings to stronger girls’ participation in sport, including findings published by the Australian Sports Commission Clearinghouse for Sport — one of many supporting sources.

In Winter 2026, with too few girls to form viable standalone club teams, WBA chose not to run a mixed competition. Instead, girls trained and played together as a single WBA squad in red & black each week — a girls-only environment preserved through a different structure. We are planning for a standalone girls club competition again for Summer 2026/27, but will remain open to the same WBA squad model from Winter 2026 if numbers require it, to ensure girls always play in a girls-only setting.

Aussie Hoops remains mixed — the single-sex approach applies to the domestic competition only.

Yes — scoring caps apply to both age groups to keep games balanced and inclusive.

Under 8 — 6-point player cap per half: a player may score a maximum of 6 points per half. Once capped, that player cannot score again until all teammates have also reached 6 points. All field goals count as 2 points.

Under 10 — 12-point player cap per half: a player may score a maximum of 12 points per half.

If a capped player scores, the points will not be added to the scoreboard or iPad scoring system. Scorebench should alert referees and team benches when a player is approaching or has reached their cap.

Each team in U10 competitions receives 10 half-time free throw attempts. Half-time free throw points do count toward the game score, but do not count toward the individual player scoring cap. The referee enters successful free throws into the iPad as team points, and the scorebench manually adds them to the stadium scoreboard.

The mercy rule applies to U10 and U12 competitions. It does not apply to U14 and above.

At a 20-point margin: the leading team must retreat to the back one-third of the court and defend man-to-man only.

At a 40-point margin: the 20-point rules still apply, plus all five players of the leading team must touch their defensive baseline before they can defend. The mercy rule promotes fair play, sportsmanship and a positive experience for all players.

Yes — but fill-ins exist for one reason only: to prevent a forfeit. A fill-in is not a way to strengthen a lineup or field a preferred team. Association Operations reviews fill-in patterns across the season.

Key rules: the fill-in must be from the same club; maximum team size with a fill-in is 6 players; each player is capped at 2 fill-in games per season; games played as a fill-in do not count toward that player’s own finals eligibility.

The fill-in must report to the Game Day Official (GDO) with their details before taking the court — a coach or team manager cannot enter fill-in details onto the score sheet.

Filling in within own age group: must play in a division equal to or lower than their registered division.

Filling in one age group higher: play-up division rules apply — same division as registered or one lower. A fill-in may never play in a division lower than their own registered division — no exceptions, even to avoid a forfeit.

Points cap note: a fill-in’s rep points count toward the receiving team’s 9-point cap (Section 6.4). Players with over 9 rep points are not eligible to fill in.

Any breach of fill-in rules results in an automatic forfeit of the affected game.

Fill-ins in finals require a written request to Association Operations at least 5 days before the finals game. If a team has 5 or more qualified players, no fill-ins are permitted. Same-day injury exemptions are at Association Operations’ sole discretion and must be approved before the player takes the court.

WBA uses four foul types, each with different penalties and consequences:

TF — Technical Foul: 2 free throws + possession from the one-third court mark. No suspension. Tracked separately from BTFs.

UF — Unsportsmanlike Foul: 2 free throws + possession. Counts as a personal and team foul. Two UFs in one game = automatic disqualification. One UF + one BTF in the same game also results in automatic disqualification.

BTF — Behavioural Technical Foul: 2 free throws + possession. For U10–U19: automatic ejection from the venue plus a 1-game suspension (automatic and non-negotiable). In most situations a referee will warn first — but a warning is not required where behaviour is severe, aggressive or clearly beyond de-escalation. If you believe a BTF was applied incorrectly, the avenue is the referee feedback process, not a challenge on the day. For U8: players receive education-only warnings; adults receive one warning then a BTF.

DQF — Disqualifying Foul: 2 free throws + possession. Immediate ejection from the venue, an incident report filed, and referral to Association Operations for further sanction. Cannot be appealed.

Yes — warnings are personal. A warning to a coach does not transfer to a spectator, and vice versa. Each person owns their own warning and BTF tally.

Team warnings (U10+): referees can issue a team warning where collective bench behaviour warrants it — this counts as the individual warning for everyone present at the time.

Yes on both counts. If a suspension is triggered in the last fixtured game of the season, it carries over and is served as the first game of the individual’s next registered season. Repeat BTFs across the season trigger escalating sanctions on top of the per-game suspension (Section 12.6). Suspensions cannot be reduced, deferred, waived or overruled by anyone — the only avenue is the referee feedback process, which is separate and does not affect the sanction.