The Eastern Development League (EDL), explained for parents

What the EDL is

The Eastern Development League, which everyone calls the EDL, is a Friday night junior basketball competition in Melbourne's east. Basketball Hawthorn set it up in 2023 as a program for kids who missed making a VJBL team, and it has since become a joint effort between six associations.

It sits between domestic and rep. Your child trains with a squad once a week and plays on Friday nights against EDL teams from the other associations. That's the same rhythm a VJBL player has, at a level built for kids who aren't quite there yet.

It's a separate competition from the VJBL, so an EDL team isn't a rep team with a different name. The point of it is the next twelve months: more games, rep style coaching and a better shot at the next round of tryouts.

The six associations in it

For the 2026/27 season the EDL runs across Blackburn, Bulleen, Camberwell, Darebin, Eltham and Hawthorn. Hawthorn describe it as a league they created that has grown into a joint effort with the other five.

Your child plays EDL through one of these six associations. A family from outside them would be trying out for that association's program, and some of them run a separate tryout for players who are new to their rep program. Each association's own EDL page is below.

• Blackburn Vikings, EDL. Picked from the VJBL tryouts, no separate trial
• Bulleen Boomers, EDL. Up to four EDL teams per age group
• Camberwell Basketball, EDL. A separate EDL Selection Day
• Darebin Basketball, programs. Rep Prep squads by invite, with a place in the EDL
• Eltham Wildcats, EDL. Picked through the full VJBL trial
• Basketball Hawthorn, EDL. Considered from the VJBL tryouts

Age groups, game night and the season

Eltham list the EDL age groups as Under 12 to Under 16, boys and girls. Camberwell also list Under 18 boys for 2026/27, with games on Wednesday and Friday nights.

Games are on Friday nights from 5.30pm across the eastern suburbs, played over four ten minute quarters. Bulleen's 2025/26 parent handbook expected eight to ten teams in each EDL division, and Bulleen's home games are usually at Sheahans Road Stadium and East Doncaster Secondary College.

The season dates depend on whose page you read. Eltham say practice games in November and December, then the season from February to September. Camberwell say the league runs across terms one to three, plus entry into Eltham and Dandenong's Australia Day tournament in 2027. Bulleen's 2025/26 handbook said March to August, with finals in August and September. Treat your own association's dates as the ones that count.

How your child gets in, association by association

This is the part that catches families out. There's no single EDL tryout. Each association picks its own EDL teams, and most of them do it through their VJBL tryouts, which were still running in mid October.

If your child just missed a VJBL team at one of these six, contact the association this week rather than waiting for an email. At several of them the EDL decision happens within days of the last tryout.

Training, and what it costs

Five of the six associations publish a weekly squad training, mostly on Sundays. Hawthorn's is a mandatory Sunday session run by its current VJBL head coaches. Bulleen train for 90 minutes on Sundays, Eltham on Sunday evenings, Blackburn with Vikings coaching staff, and Darebin run weekly one hour sessions with rep coaches.

Fees are harder to pin down, because most associations don't publish an EDL season fee. These are the figures we could find, and every one of them is worth confirming before you accept a spot.

• Bulleen: $990 for 2025/26, paid in three instalments, plus a playing singlet ($60), shorts ($40) and hoodie ($65). The 2026/27 fee wasn't published when we checked.
• Eltham: a $75 trial fee, then a $100 acceptance fee that's only charged if your child is selected into a rep or EDL team.
• Blackburn: a $20 tryout fee.
• Darebin: a playing jersey is included in the Rep Prep program.
• Camberwell and Hawthorn: no EDL fee published when we checked.

Playing domestic as well

The EDL usually sits on top of domestic basketball rather than replacing it. Bulleen expect EDL players to keep playing Saturday EDJBA domestic games, and their handbook describes a minimum of two games a week, one EDL and one domestic.

Add the Sunday training and that's three basketball commitments a week, before school sport. For a ten or eleven year old that's a real load, so it's worth talking about what comes off the calendar before you say yes.

If your child has played VJBL at another association before, check whether they need a Permission to Train first. Blackburn ask for one before their VJBL tryouts for anyone who has played VJBL elsewhere.

Is the EDL worth it?

I set up and coached Hawthorn Magic's first EDL teams, and I was head coach of the program for two years. The whole idea was a second chance for kids who didn't make rep but still wanted rep style training.

So my honest answer is yes, if your child wants it. Missing a VJBL team at twelve doesn't decide much on its own. What matters is what they do in the twelve months before the next tryout, and the EDL gives them more games and better coaching for exactly that stretch.

It isn't a guarantee of anything. An EDL spot doesn't come with a VJBL place next October. It's a better place to build from than one domestic game a week, and that's all it needs to be.