Basketball in Victoria runs close to all year. Most associations split the year into a summer domestic season and a winter one, broadly tracking school terms with a break over Christmas. Representative basketball sits on top of that and runs far longer, with the VJBL playing roughly forty weeks from about November through to September the following year.
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.
Unlike most Victorian junior sport, basketball doesn't stop. Basketball Victoria describes it as a year round indoor sport, with games played in over 500 stadiums across the state and no dependence on weather or temperature.
That's genuinely useful for families, because it means there's almost always an entry point. You're rarely more than a couple of months away from the start of something, which isn't true of a winter only sport.
It also means there's no natural off season to hide in. Families who want a break have to choose to take one, and that's a decision worth making deliberately rather than by accident.
Most associations run their junior domestic competition in two blocks, commonly described as a summer season and a winter season. Each block runs a home and away fixture with grading at the front and finals at the end, and the blocks sit around the school terms rather than exactly on them.
The shape is the important part, not the dates, because every association publishes its own calendar and they don't line up with each other. Your association's season dates page is the only one that governs your family.
Grading is the piece that surprises new parents. Associations play a handful of grading rounds at the start of a season and move teams between divisions until the fixtures are even. A team that gets beaten heavily in week one will usually be moved.
Registration for a season closes well before the season starts, because the association needs to know team numbers to build a fixture. Missing the window by a week usually means waiting for the next season rather than joining late.
The practical advice is to find out the closing date from your club at the start of the preceding term, put it in a calendar, and register on the first day rather than the last. Late registrations get placed into whatever team has a gap, if any.
Registration itself is done online, and Basketball Victoria's terms of participation describe setting up a profile in the registration platform and completing the online registration to your affiliated club or association.
Representative basketball doesn't fit into terms at all. Basketball Victoria's VJBL parents and players handbook describes games running for about forty weeks of the year, commencing approximately early to mid November and continuing through to September the following year.
Within that there are two phases. Grading phases one and two run from around late November through March and decide where teams sit, and the championship phase then runs from March through to September. The handbook notes the basketball year finishes around mid December and starts again at the end of January.
VJBL games are commonly played on Friday nights, though plenty of fixtures fall on the weekend depending on the age group and the associations involved, with Basketball Victoria describing more than 1,700 representative teams from over 50 associations and 17,000 participants across 80 plus venues. If your child's selected, ask your association which nights its teams actually play before you plan the year around it.
Representative tryouts are generally held around October, which is before the season that follows starts in November. That timing catches families who assume selection happens at the start of a year rather than at the end of one.
If you're thinking about representative basketball for your child, the practical consequence is that the decision point arrives in September and October, not in February. Watch your association's announcements during term three.
Nothing about that timeline applies to domestic basketball, which usually has no tryout. You register and your child's placed in a team, though some larger associations run a short placement session to sort grades.
Because there's always another season, plenty of children play fifty weeks a year by default. I don't think that's good for most of them, and it's the single most common cause of a child quietly going off the sport at thirteen.
Taking one domestic season off, or skipping a summer, isn't falling behind. Kids who come back after a break are usually fresher and often better, because they've grown and because they want to be there.
If your child plays representative basketball, the natural gap is the one the handbook describes between mid December and the end of January. Protect it rather than filling it with a camp.
It depends on which competition. Domestic associations typically run a summer season and a winter season that sit around the school terms, with dates set locally. Representative basketball in the VJBL runs roughly forty weeks from about early to mid November through to September the following year.
Mostly, though not always completely. Basketball Victoria's VJBL handbook describes the basketball year finishing around mid December and recommencing at the end of January. Individual associations publish their own break dates, so check your own calendar.
Generally around October, ahead of a season that starts in November. That means the decision point for a family arrives late in the school year rather than at the beginning of one.
Usually not, because fixtures are built from registered team numbers before the season starts. Find out your club's closing date early and register at the start of the window rather than the end.
More on tryouts and season
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.