Frankston Blues
| Frankston Blues | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leagues | SEABL |
| Founded | 1959 |
| History |
Frankston Bears 1981–1985 Bayside Blues 1986–1994 Frankston Blues 1995–present |
| Location | Frankston, Victoria |
| Team colors |
Sky blue and White |
| President | Gary Emery |
| Championships |
Bears men 1 (1982) Blues men 6 (1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2009) Blues women 3 (1993, 1997, 2004) |
| Website | BluesBasketball.net.au |
The Frankston Blues are a basketball team competing in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).
History
Frankston basketball origins can be traced back to 1959 when a group of students from the Frankston Teacher's College traveled to Albert Park for a tournament where they met other players from Frankston. Through these contacts made, a few games were organised to cater for the need in the Frankston area. The earliest games were played at the Balcombe Army Barracks. The Army and Navy had teams involved, but no formal competition existed.[1]
In 1960, the College built a gymnasium, which was wide enough for basketball, but was 12 inches short of acceptable length. Peter Ladd, who lived on Campus at the time, made contact with the Woinarski family, who were schoolmates of the Jennings boys, the builders. AV Jennings agreed to alter the building, which was of lightweight construction, at no cost to the college.[1]
Teams from the YMCA and Seaford joined in and most of the administration was done by the teams on a rotational basis, such as collecting fees, marking lines, etc. The President of the College, George Jenkins, was very happy for the students to be involved in such activity as long as there was a formal structure, and financial accountability was in place. A staff team joined in the early 1960s and helped in negotiations with other groups, who were constantly in competition for use of the Gymnasium on the Campus. This staff team remained a vital part of the competition until the early 1970s.[1]
In the early 1970s, the Police and Citizens Club built the existing facility at the Towerhill Road site. At the time that ground was broken for the stadium, moves were also made to bring a senior representative team to Frankston. Jason Placas negotiated to bring Tony Gaze from Dandenong, along with the nucleus of his team. Four of these players were Frankston junior players. The team competed in the VBA Championships in 1979 and 1980, and joined the South Eastern Basketball League in 1981. After winning the SEBL in 1982, the Frankston Bears joined the NBL in 1983 and competed at that level for two years, before financial pressures became too much for the Association to handle.[1]
In 1986, Frankston joined forces with neighbouring Chelsea Association to form the Bayside Blues Basketball Club. This Club represented both Associations from 1986 to 1995, when Chelsea opted out because of financial commitments. The Frankston Blues were then established as the representative arm of the Frankston District Basketball Association (FDBA). The Blues Club has had much success with National Championships by the Women's team in 1993, 1997 and again in 2004. The Men's SEABL team has won six Conference Championships and were National Runners-up in 1995 and 1998. Frankston also hosted the Under 14 Boys Australian Championships in 1996 and hosted the National Junior Classic for under 12s and 14s in the early 2000s.[1]