The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand professional men's

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

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the SBS Bank Southland Sharks.

Team history

The Southland Sharks brand dates back to the 1990s when the Smokefree Southland Sharks competed in the

Conference Basketball League The Conference Basketball League (CBL) was a second-tier men's semi-professional basketball league in New Zealand. During the 1980s and 1990s, the CBL was a second-tier league beneath the National Basketball League (NBL), with promotion and re ...

(CBL) and won championships in 1995 and 1998. In 2002, a group of local businessmen launched a bid to enter a Southland team into the National Basketball League (NBL), but that attempt fell over late in the piece when the Community Trust of Southland declined a $150,000 application. In October 2009, Southland Basketball Association was granted a three-year NBL license. In December 2009, the Sharks were confirmed for the 2010 NBL season. The Sharks made playoff appearances in their first two seasons in the NBL, before missing the post-season in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, the Sharks won their maiden NBL championship with a 92–81 win over the

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (New Zealand), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the T ...

in the final. After another playoff appearance in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, the Sharks won their first

minor premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, before going on to reach the NBL final, where they won their second championship with a 72–68 win over the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as ...

. With the win, they broke the 2001 Waikato Titans 15-game winning streak to finish the season with 16 wins in a row. The 2015 season also saw the Sharks retire Kevin Braswell's No. 12 jersey. After another playoff appearance in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, the Sharks made their third NBL final in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, where they lost 108–75 to the Saints. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, the Sharks returned to the NBL final for the fourth time in six years, where they won their third championship with a 98–96 win over the Saints. The Sharks sat out the 2020 season 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 ...

. In 2022, the Sharks' inaugural sponsors SIT Zero Fees decided to end its long-term partnership with the team.

Honour roll

Players

Current roster

Notable past players

Larry Abney Lawrence Abney (born May 19, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who was most recently the head coach of the Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). Born in Nyack, New York, he was nicknamed '' ...

* Everard Bartlett * Todd Blanchfield *

Craig Bradshaw Craig Bradshaw may refer to: * Craig Bradshaw (basketball) (born 1983), New Zealand professional basketball player * Craig Bradshaw (American football) (born 1957), American football player {{hndis, Bradshaw, Craig ...

* Kevin Braswell * Brian Conklin * Gareth Dawson * / Mark Dickel * Kaniel Dickens * Mike Helms * Paul Henare * Leon Henry * / Martin Iti * Jordair Jett * Nick Kay * / Adrian Majstrovich * / Luke Martin * Daniel Munday * Mitch Norton * James Paringatai * Alex Pledger * Brendon Polyblank * / Dion Prewster * Mike Rose *

René Rougeau René Anthony Rougeau (born March 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Helsinki Seagulls of the Korisliiga. He played college basketball for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he starred in his four seasons with the U ...

* Reuben Te Rangi * / Arthur Trousdell * /

Tai Wesley Tai William Evans Wesley (born May 13, 1986) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2011. After beginning h ...

Retired numbers

References

External links

Official team website

"Southland Sharks: Standing tall among us"
at stuff.co.nz
"Jill Bolger's 40 years of dedication to Southland basketball recognised"
at stuff.co.nz {{National Basketball League (New Zealand) Basketball teams established in 2010 Basketball teams in New Zealand National Basketball League (New Zealand) teams 2010 establishments in New Zealand