Basketball in Sydney

Basketball, the game, was initiated by Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, in December 1891. He wanted to introduce a game that would keep the students of the college for the YMCA professionals fit through the long winters, and in the process introduced a game incorporating rules from the children’s game “Duck on a Rock”. Senda Berenson introduced the game for women in 1892 at Smith’s College. On 20th January 1892 the first official game of basketball was played with nine players. In 1932 the International Basketball Federation was founded by Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland and in 1936 basketball was included in the Olympic Games for the first time. Today basketball is popular all over the world. Australia too has taken to basketball in a big way. In Australia, basketball in Sydney is gaining huge popularity.

The Australian Basketball Federation Inc. is the member of FIBA. It has 470 clubs registered under it with 930818 female and 127699 male licensed players. It is currently second in FIBA ranking. Australia won the FIBA World Championship for Women, 2006, held in Barueri and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Address of the Australian Basketball Federation Inc. is
Level 3, 256 Coward Street, NSW 2020 Mascot,
P.O. Box 7141, NSW 2015 Alexandria.

The most famous team representing basketball in Sydney is the Sydney Kings. It was founded in 1988 and has Sydney Entertainment Centre as their home court. The colors of Sydney Kings are purple and gold. They were the NBL Champions for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005. Players from Sydney Kings like David Barlow, Luke Kendall and Jason Smith are members of the Australian Mens National Team. The head coach is Brian Goorjian also the head coach of Sydney Kings.

Address of Sydney Kings is
Suite 4, Level 1,
645 Harris St,
Ultimo NSW 2007.

The other team from Sydney in the National Basketball League (NBL) is the West Sydney Razorbacks. It was founded in 1998/99. Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre is the home venue for the team. Their coach is Mark Watkins and the colors are navy and sky blue. They were the Australian NBL Finalists in 2002 and 2004.

Address of the West Sydney Razorbacks is
PO Box 329
Belmore, NSW, 2192.

Sydney City Comets is another team in the arena of basketball in Sydney. They were the CBA Champion in 1992, the ABL Waratah Regular Season Champion and ABL Waratah Champion in 2004.

The women team making their presence felt in the Sydney basketball scene is the Sydney Uni Flames. They have Dalton Karen as their head coach.

Address of the Sydney Uni Flames is
SU Building G09
University of Sydney, NSW 2006.

Basketball is one of the major sports in Sydney. The popularity of basketball in Sydney can be comprehended by the number of clubs spread throughout the city:

- South Sydney Rabbitohs Basketball Club
- Sydney Y.M.C.A. Basketball Club
- Saints Basketball Club
- Dulwich Newtown Basketball Club
- CYS Basketball Club
- Wyvern Basketball Club- Seniors
- Maccabi Club
- LJBC
- Unsw Basketball Club- Seniors Men and Women
- Sydney University Basketball Club
- Sydney Spectres Basketball Club

Hotels in Sydney
Macquarie Boutique Hotel	Ultimate Apartments
Y City South Hotel	Formule 1 Hotel
Leisure Inn Suites Hotel	Metro Inn Hotel