The Coles Express NBL1 East will expand to a 16-club competition, with a total of 32-teams competing across the women’s and men’s competitions from 2023, after Basketball NSW awarded licenses to the Sydney Comets, Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (CoE), Penrith Panthers and the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Spiders.
The four new clubs will join Albury-Wodonga Bandits, Canberra Gunners/Nationals, Bankstown Bruins, Central Coast Crusaders, Hills Hornets, Illawarra Hawks, Inner West Bulls, Maitland Mustangs, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Newcastle Falcons, Norths Bears and the Sutherland Sharks.
It will see the introduction of weekday games being played along with the home semi-finals for the teams that finish 1st and 2nd at the end of the regular season.
“We are delighted to welcome the Sydney Comets, CoE, Penrith Panthers and the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Spiders to the competition," Basketball NSW CEO Maria Nordstrom said.
“We are proud of the success of the inaugural season of the NBL1 East and expanding the league to include more teams has always been in our planning."
Coles Express NBL1 General Manager Dean Anglin welcomed the new teams to the league and is excited to see them hit the court.
“We are thrilled to see the growth of NBL1 East and welcome the new clubs,” Anglin said.
“It was an exciting year for basketball in NSW. The four clubs coming in have put in a power of work behind the scenes to ensure they’re up to the high standards required for NBL1 clubs and we can’t wait to see what they can achieve come March 2023.
“After a year of playing in the NBL1 Wildcard Series, the Centre of Excellence will now compete in NBL1 East. As a result, the Wildcard Series will not be played in 2023 and beyond.”
The 2023 NBL1 East Conference will tip-off on the 11th and 12th of March, with the Grand Finals being held on the 12th of August.
The winners of both the men's and women’s NBL1 East conference will then advance to compete in the Coles Express NBL1 National Finals.
“The Sydney Comets are excited to be back playing at the highest level in NSW," Sydney Comets CEO Ben Madgen said.
"Our strong junior players now have female and male NBL1 role models to inspire them to be the best players they can.
"Our Comets teams will be led by two fantastic coaches, Lachie Lonergan and Shelley Gorman. Both teams will be very competitive and importantly, who the City of Sydney community can be proud of to be representing them.
"We’re excited all the hard work behind the scenes from many people has brought our vision of being in the NBL1 a reality. Now the fun begins as we pursue a championship in both the women’s and men’s competitions.”
“Our Centre of Excellence athletes and coaches are excited to have the opportunity to compete against the best teams from metropolitan and regional NSW in the NBL1 East for the 2023 season," Peter Lonergan, Director of High Performance Coach Development at Basketball Australia said.
"The competition will provide our emerging talent with a high level of weekly competition against established teams and senior players and we are certainly appreciative for Basketball NSW for its support of our program.”
“Penrith Basketball is excited for the opportunity to participate in the 2023 NBL1 East competition," Nathan Blatch, Penrith Panthers President, said.
"This opportunity creates a pathway from grass roots to a national level competition, not only for our athletes and those from the broader outer western basketball communities but also for coaches, officials and technical officials.”
“The Spiders are excited to provide its members a pathway to a national elite level that the NBL1 league offers," Shahrad Shafaghi, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Spiders President, said.
