The Basketball SA district competition is South Australia’s elite representative basketball competition, involving male and female Junior (Under 10 – Under 20), Youth League (Under 21 Men’s & Under 23 Women’s), and Senior (open age) teams.
Each age group is made up of divisions, starting at Division 1, going through in some age groups down to Division 6.
District Basketball clubs will grade their players according to skill, to fill teams in the relevant grades.
There are 10 main District Basketball clubs in Adelaide. These are:
There are other clubs that can also play in the District competition, however in Juniors this would be in Division 3 and below, including:
School basketball and Social basketball are classified as Domestic basketball. These competitions are aimed at the beginner to intermediate skills levels and are a participation-based competition.
District basketball is a competition run by Basketball SA, played against the other district clubs. This competition is of a higher level of competition to that of Domestic basketball, where the focus is on player development and team success.
The Norwood Basketball club runs the largest domestic basketball program in Adelaide, Adelaide Community Basketball Association (ACBA), which incorporates:
More information about ACBA can be found here – www.adelaidebasketball.com.au.
District Basketball is open for both males and females, with competitions running as single gender. For the 2024/25 season, the age groups are as follows:
District Basketball is played at the following venues:
District Basketball is run over 2 seasons, traditionally a shorter season and then a longer season, now within a calendar year.
There is usually a week break in each school holiday period as well as a longer 4 – 5 break over the Christmas and January school holiday breaks.
During each season, games are played different times depending on the age group and division of a team. Currently, it is as follows:
Training Fees
At Norwood Flames, we have the following subscription cost to be a part of the club for 2024/25:
Juniors – Under 10s
Juniors – Under 12s – Under 18s
Blue Squad:
Red Squad
Seniors – Under 23s – Seniors
Paid at the commencement of the season through Basketball Connect
The above subscription cost covers the club’s training expenses.
Game Fees
Game fees for District Basketball are as follows:
Uniforms
To play District Basketball for Norwood Flames, you need to have a minimum of a Blue Singlet, a reversible Red and White Singlet and a pair of Shorts. The cost for all three together is $200.00, which is broken down as:
Numbers on uniforms are allocated by the office, to ensure no number clashes with other Norwood Flames players.
* all prices are subject to change, please confirm with the club as required
At Norwood Flames, we have divided our age groups into two squads called Blue and Red squads.
Blue Squads include teams 1-4 and have 2 x 90 mins training sessions per week. Normally one midweek and one Sunday mornings/early afternoon.
Red Squads include teams 5-8 and have 2 x 60 mins training session per week. Normally one midweek and one Sunday mornings/early afternoon. One of these sessions is taken by a skills coach and the other by the team’s coach.
Norwood Flames teams participate in tournaments throughout the year. These included, but not limited to:
It is the expectation that each player is available for each tournament their team is entered into.
NBL1 is the rebranded version of the SA Premier League and is the highest level of senior basketball in South Australia. This competition sits one tier below that of the NBL.
Norwood Flames fields both men’s and women’s teams in this competition, that is played on Saturday nights between April and September each year.
Many of our NBL1 players and coaches are involved with our junior program in a coaching or mentoring role. Some of our best juniors go on to represent Norwood in our NBL1 teams.
The commitment to District Basketball is large for both players and their families. A playing spot with the Norwood Flames is highly valued. There is an expectation that apart from injuries, illness or important family or school events, players are expected to attend each training and game, every week.
Unlike Domestic basketball, where players will receive roughly even court time, District basketball has no guarantee of even playing time. Players rather earn their playing time based on attitude, ability, attendance at training and potential to contribute to the overall team’s success.
Norwood Flames has many teams in the same age group. If a player is not consistently achieving reasonable court time minutes, we encourage coaches, in conjunction with the player and their parents, to move down a division to play more.
As a club, Norwood Flames is committed to working with all of our coaches to understand what their requirements are towards a players court time and their duty to ensure each player is treated fairly and provided with sufficient feedback. In the higher divisions, there is a larger focus on team success, in particular in important carnivals and finals matches. In lower divisions, there is a larger player development focus. Ultimately, however, court time as a whole is at the discretion of the coach for each individual team.
The Norwood Flames also has in place a process for each player to receive further feedback, if an issue is not able to be sorted via the players’ direct coach. A matter can be referred to the squad coach and then on to the Division 1 coach if required.