Regional Victoria runs its own junior pathway alongside the VJBL. Country associations enter the Junior Country Championships, held yearly for Under 12, 14, 16 and 18 in round robin and knockout format. The 2026 Under 16 and Under 18 Division 1 and 2 event ran at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo on 14 and 15 February.
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 August 2026.
Two regional associations have full pages here so far, Basketball Ballarat and Bendigo Basketball. Both run junior and senior domestic competitions alongside representative programs, the Miners and the Braves. Ballarat plays out of Selkirk Stadium in Wendouree and Bendigo out of Red Energy Arena.
Geelong United Basketball is the largest of the regional bodies. It was formed in 2019 as an amalgamation of Basketball Geelong and the Corio Bay Stingrays, is based at Beyond Bank Stadium at 20 Crows Road, Belmont, and reports more than five hundred pathways players. It runs a WNBL program, NBL1, Big V, VJBL, community and social competitions, all abilities and wheelchair basketball, and the Geelong Barwon Netball League.
Further out, Greater Shepparton Basketball Association runs from 120 Numurkah Road, Shepparton, with seven clubs, more than 1,600 members and over 200 teams playing across four nights per term in winter and summer seasons. Warrnambool Basketball plays out of The ARC and Emmanuel College, with the Seahawks and Mermaids in Big V. Mildura Basketball Association plays at the Mildura Hothouse Basketball Stadium on Eighth Street, with a Junior Heat program for ages ten to seventeen.
In Gippsland, Traralgon Amateur Basketball Association runs junior domestic from Under 10 to Under 18 for boys and girls, with A and B grades in most age groups, at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium on Catterick Crescent. It runs a summer season from October to April and a winter season from May to September.
This is the part of the system that has no metropolitan equivalent, and it is the main reason country junior basketball feels different.
Basketball Victoria runs the Junior Country Championships yearly for Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 age groups. Teams play a round robin followed by knockout rounds. Entry is open to regional Basketball Victoria affiliated associations and country Victorian athletes, so a metropolitan association cannot enter.
In 2026 the championships were split across three regional centres. Red Energy Arena in Bendigo hosted the Under 16 and Under 18 Division 1 and 2 events on 14 and 15 February 2026, and the Under 12 championships on 17 to 19 April. Shepparton hosted the Under 16 and Under 18 Division 3, 4 and 5 events on 14 and 15 March, and Ballarat hosted the Under 14 championships from 11 to 13 April.
The February Bendigo event drew sixteen Under 16 boys teams, thirteen Under 16 girls teams, sixteen Under 18 boys teams and fourteen Under 18 girls teams, from associations including Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong United, Mildura, Shepparton, Traralgon, Warrnambool and Wodonga. For a lot of country kids this weekend, not the VJBL, is the peak of the junior year.
Regional associations are not shut out of the VJBL. Geelong United runs a VJBL program alongside its WNBL, NBL1 and Big V sides, and Ballarat, Bendigo and others enter teams too.
The commitment is genuinely different from a metropolitan one. Geelong United warns its families up front that the fixture is spread across Victoria on Friday evenings and that travelling to it is part of the deal for players and coaches alike. Its teams train on Sundays, which is a scheduling choice that only makes sense once you account for the travel.
That is the honest trade for a country rep family. A Friday night fixture in the outer east of Melbourne, from Geelong or Bendigo or Traralgon, is most of an evening each way, week after week, from March through September.
The 2026 restructure was aimed squarely at this. The new Regional League, the third tier beneath Victorian Championship and Victorian Junior League, is organised into geographic pools to cut travel, and unlike the Regional Development League it replaced, it has a grading phase. For a country family, being graded into RL is not a demotion, it is a shorter drive.
Basketball Victoria also runs the Country Basketball League, an open age representative competition held across geographical conferences in regional Victoria. All Basketball Victoria regional affiliated associations may nominate, and interstate country associations may be accepted.
The opening round is generally held on the second weekend of October, conference finals are usually scheduled in February, and the conference winners then meet at a state finals weekend. Gippsland is one of those geographic conferences, so a Latrobe Valley player is competing against other country sides rather than travelling to Melbourne.
This matters for juniors because it is where a lot of country teenagers get their first open age basketball. In a small town there may not be enough players for a full junior representative program at every age, and CBL gives a strong sixteen or seventeen year old somewhere real to play against adults.
One warning. CBL is also the abbreviation Camberwell Basketball uses for its Community Basketball League, a junior domestic competition in Melbourne's inner east. They are entirely different competitions and the shared acronym causes constant confusion.
Country associations tend to give kids more court time earlier. Smaller squads, fewer teams and a shorter bench mean a twelve year old in a country town usually plays more minutes than the same kid would in a deep metropolitan competition. That is a real developmental advantage and it does not get talked about enough.
The facilities are frequently excellent too. Red Energy Arena in Bendigo hosts Junior Country Championships events. Beyond Bank Stadium in Geelong runs a WNBL program. The Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium in Traralgon carries the whole Latrobe Valley.
What country basketball has less of is depth of competition and choice of association. If a club is not the right fit, the alternative may be an hour away rather than ten minutes. And the elite pathway involves travel that a metropolitan family simply does not have to think about.
There is also a seasonal thing worth planning for. Traralgon, Shepparton and others run two full seasons a year rather than one long winter, which means the sport can occupy far more of the calendar than a metropolitan winter season does. Ask about that before you assume basketball finishes in September.
An annual Basketball Victoria tournament for Under 12, 14, 16 and 18 teams, played as a round robin followed by knockout rounds. Only regional affiliated associations and country Victorian athletes can enter.
Across three centres. Bendigo hosted Under 16 and 18 Divisions 1 and 2 on 14 and 15 February and the Under 12s on 17 to 19 April. Shepparton hosted Under 16 and 18 Divisions 3 to 5 on 14 and 15 March. Ballarat hosted the Under 14s on 11 to 13 April.
Yes. Geelong United runs a VJBL program, and Ballarat, Bendigo and others enter as well. Games are Friday nights at venues across the state, so travel is a real commitment.
Basketball Victoria's open age representative competition for regional associations, played across geographic conferences. Opening matches are usually the second weekend of October, with conference finals in February and a state championship weekend after that.
Not obviously. Country kids typically play more minutes at a younger age, which helps. What they get less of is depth of competition and choice of association, and the elite pathway involves far more travel.
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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. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
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