WBA up for award

The Warragul Basketball Association (WBA) has been named a finalist for 'Association of the Year – Medium' at the 2026 Basketball Victoria Awards.

The award recognises associations that have achieved across every area of their operations over the past 12 months, including participation growth, community engagement, program development and leadership.

Winners will be announced at the awards gala at the RACV City Club, Melbourne, on Tuesday 17 November, the night before the Association's annual general meeting.

The nomination recognises a year in which WBA, founded in 1967, displayed immense growth in several key areas.

In its first full year with a professional operational team, the Association recorded its highest-ever participation, ran its largest-ever tournament, returned the Warriors to both the VJBL and Victoria's elite senior league, launched or restarted seven programs, and established Gippsland's first ongoing wheelchair basketball program.

WBA recorded 4,139 enrolments in 2026, passing 2025's total with term four still enrolling. Junior domestic basketball, the engine of the Association, reached 1,702 players this summer, its largest season ever and 109 per cent of the previous high.

Across the junior, senior and new Sunday mixed competitions, 2,155 individual players from 117 suburbs are registered this summer, from Pakenham and Lang Lang in the west to Trafalgar in the east and Neerim South in the north.

Growth has been strongest where it matters most. Junior (under 12–19) participation is up 30 per cent since 2023, the female share of all participants has risen from 26 per cent to 31 per cent, and the share of girls in the under 16s has doubled from 17 per cemt to 35.
Other successes include expansion in the Mini Hoops program, the Future Warriors Academy and the new Sunday senior mixed competition, in which more than 54 per cent of players are women.
Gippsland's first sanctioned 3x3 Hustle tournament brought 203 players and 56 teams together for 126 games in a single day, while Sporting Schools reached 362 student places across five primary schools.
The Dolly's Dream Warragul Junior Invitational was the Association's largest-ever event, with more than 2,250 players, 200 teams and 21 associations playing 379 games across eight venues.
In partnership with anti-bullying charity Dolly's Dream, WBA used the tournament to pilot a zero tolerance behaviour standard that now runs across junior and senior domestic competition. Ballarat Basketball has since requested the documentation as a model for its own rollout.
General Manager Dave Thomas has also been nominated for the Jack Carter Memorial Award, Basketball Victoria's honour for an administrator whose impact within their association and the wider community shows the passion, drive and commitment to help the sport grow.
Dave was appointed to the newly created General Manager role with a remit to build the operational capability the Association needed to match its ambition, and has led a three-person team, all in their first year in their roles, through the changes that underpin the Association's nomination.
Reflecting on his first 12 months, Dave said the Association's focus would remain on culture.
"We have set a standard for how this Association behaves on the court, on the bench, in the stands and in the committee room, and we will keep setting it. The people make the culture. The structures just make it visible."
In Country Basketball League action this week, the Warriors women scored an enormous 104-point win over Bairnsdale 130-26, while the men were downed by Southern Peninsula 100-84.