Kilsyth Cobras is a

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria (state), Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (Australia), ...

club based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Kilsyth and Mountain District Basketball Association Inc. (K&MDBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the

City of Maroondah A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. The Cobras play their home games at Kilsyth Sports Centre.

Club history

Background

Kilsyth and Mountain District Basketball Association Inc. (K&MDBA) was established in 1963. In 1987, Eastern Sports Development Ltd (ESD) was established to serve as the management body of Kilsyth Basketball.

SEABL

In 1984, the Kilsyth Cobras men's team debuted 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 1985, the Cobras finished fourth in the SEABL regular season and went on to reach the ABA National grand final, where they won the National championship with a victory over the

Bulleen Boomers Geelong United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Geelong, Victoria. United compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Geelong Arena. Beginning as the Bulleen Boomers in 1984, the ...

. In 1990, the Cobras were inaugural members of the SEABL women's competition. In 1997, the women's team made their first SEABL grand final and finished runners-up to the

Frankston Blues Frankston Blues is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Frankston & District Basketball Association (FDBA), the major administrative basketbal ...

. In 1998, the women's team won the SEABL championship and the ABA National championship. They went on to finish as SEABL runners-up again in 1999. In 1999, the men's team won the SEABL East Conference championship but went on to lose in the ABA National grand final to the

Geelong Supercats Geelong United is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Geelong, Victoria. Previously known as the Geelong Supercats, the club fields teams in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is affiliated with Geelong United Basketball and plays ...

. In 2000, the men's team finished second in the South Conference and went on to reach the ABA National grand final, where they lost to the

Hobart Chargers Hobart Chargers is a NBL1 South club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The Chargers play their home games at the Hobart Netball and Sports Centre and Pembroke Park's South East Stadium. Cl ...

. In 2002, the women's team won the SEABL championship and the ABA National championship. In 2003, the women's team lost in the SEABL grand final to the Bendigo Braves. In 2005 and 2007, the men's team lost in the South Conference grand final to the Braves. In 2008, the women's team won their third SEABL championship. In 2015 and 2016, the women's team won back-to-back South Conference titles but lost both years in the SEABL grand final to the

Dandenong Rangers The Southside Flyers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Flyers compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at the State Basketball Centre. For sponsorship pur ...

NBL1

After the demise of the SEABL following the 2018 season, a new competition known as

NBL1 The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conferences: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of bot ...

debuted in 2019 with the Cobras playing in the inaugural season. The women's team reached the grand final, where they defeated the Geelong Supercats 86–76 to win the NBL1 championship. Cobras guard Lauren Nicholson was named grand final MVP. The

season did not go ahead in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

Kilsyth Basketball official website
{{NBL1 South East Australian Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Melbourne Basketball teams established in 1984 1984 establishments in Australia Sport in the City of Maroondah