Geelong United is an Australian professional

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

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. United compete in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

(WNBL) and play their home games at

Geelong Arena Geelong Arena is a multi-use sports and entertainment venue in Geelong, Victoria. It served as the home venue for the Geelong Supercats, a men's basketball team who played in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1982 and 1996. It curr ...

. Beginning as the Bulleen Boomers in 1984, the team underwent a name change in 2013 to Melbourne Boomers. In 2024, the Boomers' WNBL licence was transferred to Geelong United Basketball.

History

Bulleen-Templestowe Basketball Club (BTBC) was established in 1969. In 1984, BTBC secured a licence to join the

(WNBL), marking the debut of the Bulleen Boomers. The Boomers were first coached by Trevor Cook, with the initial team including

Michele Timms Michele Margaret Timms (born 28 June 1965) is an Australian basketball coach and former player. She played five seasons for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was inducted into the Women's Basketball ...

and Samantha Thornton. The club first qualified for the WNBL finals in 1989 under the guidance of coach Paul Deacon, and, after progressing to the same stage the following year, missed the playoffs until 1996. In coach Lori Chizik's first season, Bulleen finished third in the regular season before bowing out in the semi-finals. Chizik led the Boomers to the 1999–2000 preliminary final, marking the club's best-ever result to that point.

Cheryl Chambers Cheryl Chambers (born 18 April 1968) is an Australian basketball coach and retired professional basketball player. She currently is head coach for the Southside Flyers in the WNBL. Career WNBL Chambers played 261 games in the Women's National ...

then took over in 2001–02 and steered the club to two finals appearances, including the 2004–05 preliminary final. Katrina Hibbert and

Hollie Grima Hollie Florance (née Grima, born 16 December 1983 in Launceston, Tasmania) is an Australian women's basketball player. She is 190 cm tall, weighs 84 kg and plays in the Centre position. She attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 2 ...

formed the backbone of the Boomers during the 2000s. Hibbert won back-to-back League MVP awards during the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons. Bulleen made four straight WNBL grand finals between 2008–09 and 2011–12, winning their first championship in 2010–11 behind Desiree Glaubitz, Sharin Milner,

Liz Cambage Elizabeth Folake "Liz" Cambage ( ; born 18 August 1991) is a British-born Australian professional basketball player for the Sichuan Yuanda of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association. She won the Women's National Basketball League in 2011 and ...

Rachel Jarry Rachel Jarry (born 6 December 1991) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Southside Flyers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She started playing basketball as a five-year-old and as a youngster in national co ...

Jenna O'Hea Jenna O'Hea (born 6 June 1987) is a former Australian professional basketball player and former captain of Australia's national team, the Opals. O'Hea was the captain of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic ...

and coach

Tom Maher Tom Maher (born 4 September 1952 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian basketball coach. Maher is the most successful coach in history of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL), having won nine championships. He coached the Nunawa ...

. In 2013, BTBC changed the team name to Melbourne Boomers to target a wider area of population and boost crowd numbers. The team also changed its colours from blue and gold to purple and gold, and moved their home games to the

State Basketball Centre The State Basketball Centre is a sports arena located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, used primarily for basketball. The stadium features 18 courts, including one basketball show court with seating for 3,200. The stadium houses the offices o ...

in Wantirna. In 2014,

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

joined as a naming rights partner. In 2016, a new ownership group took over the Boomers' license from BTBC. In the 2017–18 season, the Boomers reached the grand final but lost to the

Townsville Fire The Townsville Fire are an Australian professional basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The Fire are based in Townsville, Queensland, and play their home games at Townsville Entertainment and Convention Ce ...

. In the 2021–22 season, the Boomers won their second WNBL championship under coach

Guy Molloy Guy Molloy (born 4 November 1965) is an Australian basketball coach, who is currently the head coach of the Sydney Flames of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Early life Molloy was born in Young, New South Wales. He moved to Canber ...

. In March 2024, Geelong United Basketball (GUB) and a consortium of local private investors from Geelong expressed interest in acquiring the Boomers' licence after the Boomers' ownership group looked to transfer its licence. Two months later, the license was officially transferred to GUB, with the team moving to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

under a new brand Geelong United. In the

2024–25 WNBL season The 2024–25 WNBL season was the 45th season of the competition since its establishment in 1981. The Southside Flyers were the defending champions, but they failed to qualify for Finals this season. The Bendigo Spirit won their third champions ...

, Geelong United finished in seventh place with a 6–15 record.

Home venues

The franchise has had a number of home venues, including Sheahan's Road Basketball Centre, Keilor Basketball Stadium, Melbourne Entertainment Centre, the Veneto Club,

(2013–2023), and

Parkville Stadium Parkville Stadium, also referred to as Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville and previously known as the State Netball Hockey Centre, is a multipurpose sporting facility located in Melbourne, Australia. It is the administrative headquarters for ...

(2021–2024). With the move to Geelong in 2024, the home venue shifted to

Season-by-season records

Players

Current roster

Former coaches

Former players

* Lindsay Allen * Rebecca Allen * Stella Beck *

* Carley Ernst *

Allison Tranquilli Allison Petra Cook-Tranquilli (born 12 August 1972 in Melbourne, Victoria) is a retired female basketball player from Australia, who played for the Melbourne Tigers and PVSK Pecs in Hungary. A two-time Olympian she was a member of the national ...

* Debbie Slimmon * Samantha Thornton * Katrina Hibbert * Sharin Milner * Desiree Glaubitz *

Alice Kunek Alice Kunek (born 6 January 1991) is an Australian-Irish professional basketball player for Southside Flyers, the current champions of the WNBL. Professional career WNBL Kunek began her WNBL career at the AIS alongside fellow up and coming pla ...

Ashleigh Karaitiana Ashleigh Karaitiana (born 26 June 1992) is a New Zealand and Australian professional basketball player. College Karaitiana played college basketball at the University of Hawaii for the Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu, Hawaii. In her last year Karai ...

* Antonia Farnworth * Madeleine Garrick *

Kalani Purcell Kalani Purcell (born 13 January 1995) is a New Zealand professional basketball player. Early life Purcell was born in Auckland, New Zealand. She later moved to Australia, where she attended John Paul College in Brisbane, Queensland. College ...

* Izzy Wright *

Ezi Magbegor Eziyoda "Ezi" Magbegor (born 13 August 1999) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Magbegor was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at ...

References

External links

Geelong United's WNBL website

Old Melbourne Boomers website
{{WNBL Women's National Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Melbourne Basketball teams established in 1984 1984 establishments in Australia Sport in Geelong Geelong United