The Canberra Gunners are an Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. The Gunners compete in the Men's

NBL1 East NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales partnered with the Nat ...

and play their home games at Belconnen Stadium. The team is affiliated with Basketball ACT, the governing body for basketball in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. Their sister team, the Canberra Nationals, play in the Women's NBL1 East.

Team history

In 1988, the Gunners made their debut in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL). In 2003, the Gunners won the SEABL East Conference championship. That year, the

Canberra Cannons The Canberra Cannons are a defunct professional men's basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter ...

folded from the NBL, leaving the Gunners as the city's only elite male basketball team. In 2007, the Gunners lost in the SEABL East Conference grand final. In November 2018, following the demise of the SEABL, the Gunners joined the Waratah League. The Waratah League was rebranded as

for the 2022 season. The Gunners subsequently won the 2022 NBL1 East championship. In 2024, the Gunners reached the NBL1 East Grand Final, where they lost 86–67 to the Maitland Mustangs.

References

External links

Basketball ACT's official website"Gunners take pride in putting code on map"
at seabl.com.au South East Australian Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1988 Basketball teams in the Australian Capital Territory Gunners 1988 establishments in Australia Waratah League teams {{Australia-basketball-team-stub