Start with your nearest association rather than a club name you've heard of. Basketball Victoria lists around 160 associations across the state, and depending on the size of yours you either register through a local junior club or straight to the association. Pick on travel time and on how the club answers the phone, not on reputation.
Written by Cameron James, founder and head coach at Liddicoat Basketball. Over a decade coaching junior basketball in Melbourne, including at Big V level, and rep teams from Under 12s through to Under 18s.
Last updated September 2026.
This is the bit nobody explains. An association runs the competition in an area. Clubs are the teams that play in it. Basketball Victoria describes around 160 associations across the state, and says a child's first experience of organised competition is often playing for their local club at one of them.
In a large association there might be twenty clubs feeding a domestic competition. In a small or regional one there may be no clubs at all, and you simply register to the association. Basketball Victoria's own guidance is that participants can register via a local junior club if applicable, or direct to an association, depending on its size and location.
So the first question isn't which club is best. It's which association covers where you live, and what the structure under it looks like.
Basketball Victoria runs a finder on its website that searches by location and distance, or by the name of a club, association or venue if you already know it. Start there rather than with a search engine, because the finder is tied to affiliated organisations rather than to whoever ranks well.
Search by your postcode with a small radius first and widen it. Most families are better off at the association eight minutes away than the one with the better name twenty five minutes away, and you'll understand why in about week six of a winter season.
Write down two or three options. You're going to ring them.
Ask when the next season starts and when registration closes, because the answer sets your whole timeline. Ask which night the age group trains and where. Ask what day games are played on and whether they're ever at other venues.
Ask what the total cost is for a season, including uniform, and whether the uniform is bought or loaned. Ask whether they need a coach, because the honest answer to that tells you how healthy the club is.
Then ask the question that matters most for a brand new player: what happens if my child has never played. A good club has an immediate answer involving a beginner program or a specific age group. A club that hesitates is telling you something.
If your child is under about ten and completely new, a beginner program is often a better first step than a team. Basketball Victoria runs Ford Aussie Hoops as the official junior development program for five to ten year olds, describing sessions made up of warm up games, skill activities and modified games.
Domestic competition itself is the other soft entry, and it's softer than parents expect. Basketball Victoria describes domestic competitions as catering for age groups from under eight through to open age, and notes they're often graded to suit all age and ability levels.
Graded is the key word. Your child isn't thrown in against the best team in the association. The competition sorts itself into divisions so the games are close.
Ignore how many championships a club has won in the age group above your child's. It predicts nothing about the coach your seven year old will get, who is almost certainly a parent volunteer.
Ignore uniforms, logos and whoever has the best social media. Ignore any club that talks about pathways to your under nine. Ignore advice from a parent whose child is three age groups older, because the club they describe isn't the club you're joining.
Pay attention instead to whether someone rang you back, whether the information on their site is current, and whether they've a clear answer about child safety. Basketball Victoria publishes child safe standards that affiliated associations work to, and a club that knows its own policy is a club paying attention.
A first club isn't a life sentence. Plenty of families play one season, work out what they actually want, and move. That's normal, and at domestic level it's usually straightforward.
It becomes more complicated once representative basketball is involved, because there are clearance and permission rules that apply to players who have already played rep. If you're only at the domestic stage, none of that applies yet.
So choose on distance, timing and the phone call, start playing, and adjust after a season with real information.
It depends on where you live. Basketball Victoria says participants can register through a local junior club if there's one, or directly to an association, depending on the association's size and location. In smaller and regional areas you usually go straight to the association.
Use Basketball Victoria's finder, which searches by location and distance or by the name of a club, association or venue. It only covers affiliated organisations, which makes it more reliable than a general web search.
Often a beginner program first. Basketball Victoria runs Ford Aussie Hoops for five to ten year olds, built around warm up games, skill activities and modified games. Domestic competition is also graded, so a new player isn't matched against the strongest teams.
Less than you think. Start with a small radius around your postcode and widen only if you've to. A twenty five minute drive twice a week is the thing that ends seasons, not the standard of the competition.
More on start here
Next questions parents ask
Every competition in this guide
Facts on this page were compiled from the official sources below and written up in our own words. Dates, fees and venues change every season, so confirm anything you are relying on with the association directly.
This page was last updated September 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Tryout windows, grading, key dates and what each level actually costs. Written for Victorian basketball parents, sent when something matters, not every week.