If you did not grow up playing, junior basketball comes with a vocabulary nobody explains. This page defines the words you will actually hear at a Victorian stadium, from the competition names down to what your child means when they say they got switched.
Last updated August 2026
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Association | The local body that runs basketball in your area. It runs the domestic competition and enters rep teams. |
| Club | A team organisation inside an association. Your child plays for a club, in the association's competition. |
| Domestic | The local competition run inside one association. No tryout to get in. |
| Rep | Representative basketball. Your child is selected to represent the whole association against other associations. |
| VJBL | Victorian Junior Basketball League. The statewide rep competition run by Basketball Victoria. |
| VC | Victorian Championship. The top VJBL division, around 20 teams statewide per age and gender group. |
| VJL1, VJL2, VJL3 | Victorian Junior League divisions below VC. Lower number means higher standard. |
| Grading | The process of placing teams into divisions by standard, usually early in a season. |
| Tryout | The selection session for rep teams, generally held in October. |
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Zone defence | Defending an area of the court rather than a specific opponent. Banned in some junior competitions, including EDJBA. |
| Player to player | Each defender guards one specific opponent. Sometimes still called man to man. |
| Box out | Getting your body between your opponent and the ring so you can get the rebound. |
| Rebound | Collecting the ball after a missed shot. |
| Assist | The pass that directly leads to a teammate scoring. |
| Turnover | Losing the ball to the other team. |
| Screen | Standing still to block a defender so a teammate gets free. Also called a pick. |
| Switch | Two defenders swapping who they are guarding, usually after a screen. |
| Fast break | Pushing the ball up the court quickly before the defence gets set. |
| Double team | Two defenders on one player. |
| Free throw | An unguarded shot from the line, awarded after certain fouls. Worth one point. |
| Three point line | The arc. A shot made from behind it is worth three points instead of two. |
| Travel | Moving your feet illegally without dribbling. |
| Mercy rule | A rule that caps how far ahead a scoreline goes, so blowouts do not run up. Used in competitions including EDJBA. |
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Fixture | The published schedule of who plays who, and when. |
| Bye | A round where your team does not play, usually because of an odd number of teams. |
| Walkover | A game awarded to one team because the other did not turn up with enough players. |
| Ladder | The table showing where each team sits in the competition. |
| Finals | The knockout rounds at the end of a season for the top teams on the ladder. |
| Grading rounds | Early season games used to work out which division a team belongs in. |
| PlayHQ | The registration and fixtures platform most Victorian basketball runs on. |
| Team sheet | The scoresheet for a game. Some associations charge a weekly team sheet fee. |
| Registration | Signing your child up for a season, usually online, before entries close. |
| Uniform levy | A one off charge some clubs add for playing kit. |
An association runs basketball across an area, including the local domestic competition. A club sits inside that association and is the team organisation your child actually joins.
Grading is the process of sorting teams into divisions by standard, so teams play others at a similar level. It usually happens across the first few rounds of a season.
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 August 2026.
Box out, screen, and the rest are habits, not knowledge. I build them one week at a time.
