Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Basketball: a parent's guide

Who the HKBA Spiders are

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Basketball Association Inc. runs basketball for the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai area. Its representative teams play as the Spiders, which the association's own site calls the HKBA Spiders, and its junior rep teams play their home games at The Brickpit Sports Stadium in Thornleigh.

The association runs both sides of junior basketball. Local competitions are for any child who wants to play, and the representative program is for players picked at trials. The Spiders field rep teams in every age group from Under 12 up to senior open level, plus men's and women's teams in NBL1, the semi-professional senior league.

Rep teams are colour coded by strength. The association's 2026 pre-season notice explained that Spiders Green is the number one team in an age group, Spiders Black the second and Spiders White the third. If your child is offered a spot, the colour tells you roughly where that team sits.

Spiders trials for 2027

The association's 2027 Trials page links to a separate trial guide for juniors, built on Canva. The guide covers dates, the selection process and registration. We have not copied the trial dates here, so open the guide and check your child's age group before anything else.

The fees in the 2027 guide are set by who your child is. Boys who have never played rep at any association, and rep players coming from other associations, register for the open Round 1 trial at $33 per player. Players who get through are invited to Round 2 by email. Existing 2026 Spiders rep players, including train ons, register for Rounds 2, 3 and 4 at $60 per player.

Girls of every level, from first-timers to current Spiders, register through the girls' section of the same guide, which lists Rounds 2, 3 and 4 at $60 per player. A Rookies trial is offered for boys and girls born 2017 to 2019, at $33 per player.

Registration closes 48 hours before each trial and trial registrations are not refundable. A child who was a 2026 HKBA member does not need the Basketball NSW Intent to Trial form. A child who has played rep at another association does. Basketball NSW's rules say a player registered with one association cannot trial with another until that form is completed, and the form is not a clearance.

The association warns that each association is limited in how many transfer players it can take each season. It says exemptions may be made for families who have moved into the area, and asks you to tell it before trials if that applies to you.

Selection can come in two forms. The guide says the coaches' panel can offer a full playing position or a development position, which is non-playing and train only, and that an offer can be made at any point in the trials. It describes rep as potentially a 10-month commitment: two mid-week practice sessions, pre-Christmas training from November to early December, pre-season and regular season from late January to June, and finals games in July and August.

What a Spiders rep season looks like

The association's rep overview page was still written for the 2026 season when we checked, but it shows the shape of a year. The Metro Junior League (MJL), Basketball NSW's home and away rep league for Sydney associations, ran from March with grand finals in July. Junior games are on Sundays, with game times between about 8am and 4pm. Home games are at the Brickpit, and away games can be anywhere in metropolitan Sydney.

Junior rep teams carry 10 players, and the page is honest that court time may be less than your child is used to in local competition, because how each game is played is the coach's call. Training is usually once or twice a week on weeknights, and it is treated as compulsory. Parents are expected to do a basic bench course and take turns on bench duty.

In 2026 the association's pre-season notice said grading games would sort teams into Basketball NSW's Junior Premier League (JPL) and MJL divisions. For 2027, Basketball NSW's Waratah Junior League Rules of Operation list a league called the Waratah State Championships alongside the MJL and do not mention the JPL. The Spiders' own 2027 trial guide still refers to MJL and JPL opportunities for its junior teams, so ask the association which league its teams are entering.

On cost, the rep page still showed the 2026 rep levy as TBC, and no 2027 levy was published when we checked on 9 October 2026. Ask the association for the figure before you accept a position.

Where the Spiders play

The association's playing venues page lists seven venues for its competitions. Players should arrive no more than 10 minutes before their game, because there is no access to the courts while games are in progress, and nobody goes on court until an HKBA supervisor is there. At the Brickpit, all spectators must be seated. Two of the association's own pages give different street addresses for the Lawson Centre at Knox Grammar, so check your fixture or ask the office before you drive there.

PCYC Hornsby Ku-ring-gai is the one to know if your child is young, because it hosts Aussie Hoops on Sunday mornings. The venues page says every HKBA participant there needs a PCYC Club Membership, which reception sets up as a free venue hire membership with an access card.

Local competition

Junior local competitions run Monday to Friday after 5pm, with a set night for each age group. Under 8s play on Monday, as do the Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 girls. Tuesday is Under 10 and Under 12 girls, Wednesday is Under 14 and Under 18 boys, Thursday is Under 12 and Under 16 boys, and Friday is Under 10 boys.

Season 2 of 2026 was under way when we checked, so team nominations were closed. If your child has no team, fill in the Join a Team form. The association puts players on a waiting list and tries to add them to a team as soon as possible.

Every player needs Basketball NSW membership, which carries the insurance. HKBA's 2026 prices, as published on 9 October 2026 and including GST and a 3% transaction fee, are $131.33 for a 12-month membership for players aged 8 to 11 and $160.17 for players 12 and up. Six-month memberships are $94.25 and $124.12, and Under 8s pay $56.65 for 12 months. Game fees are now paid with the team nomination fee when the team registers, rather than week by week, with an option to pay in instalments through Basketball Connect.

Programs for younger kids

The association's Term 4 skills page says the term runs for nine weeks, from Monday 19 October to Friday 18 December. Aussie Hoops, Basketball Australia's introductory program for children aged 5 to 10, runs on Sunday mornings at PCYC Waitara: 9am to 9:45am for Under 5 to 7, and 9:45am to 10:30am for Under 8 to 10. Registration is through Basketball Connect.

The next step is the Spiders Development Program (SDP) at St Ives. Boys train on Tuesdays from 4pm to 6pm and girls on Thursdays from 4pm to 5pm, in Under 8 to 12 and Under 14 to 16 groups. It costs $315 for the nine weeks of Term 4. Bookings are for the full term only, and there are no refunds for missed sessions unless your child has a long-term injury with a medical report.

If your child misses selection

The Spiders guide is direct about missing out: non-selected players are urged to keep working on their skills and try again the following year. Remember that the panel can also offer a development position, training with a rep team without playing, so a child who misses a playing spot may still be offered that.

Prep4Rep is the association's eight-week pre-trial block, coached by Spiders rep coaches. Its SDP stream is for players who did not play rep in 2026 and its SEP stream, the Spiders Excellence Program, is for players who did. The block before the 2027 trials cost $260 including a t-shirt, and registrations are now closed. The association says it does not guarantee a rep spot. In the meantime, the Term 4 SDP sessions and a full season of local competition are the practical way to keep improving before next year's trials.

How to join

For local competition, a team registers for each season and players are added to it. If your child has no team, use the Join a Team form on the association's site. The office takes questions from 11am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and the general email is info@hornsbyspiders.com.au.

For the Spiders, register through the 2027 trial guide at least 48 hours before the trial, and lodge the Intent to Trial form first if your child has played rep at another association. Every player also needs current Basketball NSW membership, which you can join or renew when your child is added to a team.