Albany Basketball Association with record team numbers ahead of 2021-22 season

The staggering growth of the Albany Basketball Association is continuing, with an increase of 40 teams for the 2021-22 season that begins this month.

The ABA is closing in on 300, with a new record of 277 teams nominating to play this season — up from the 237 that took part last season.

An exciting new addition for the association is the introduction of a Year 2 competition that has attracted 13 teams while there are already strong numbers registered for Aussie Hoops.

Another positive will be an eight-team women’s A-grade competition while the men’s A-grade have lost two from last season and will have seven teams vying for the title.

There has also been a strong showing at Raiders development squad try-outs for the upcoming season.

The new season will begin on the week of October 18 and ABA president Rob Whalley said the sport continues to grow in popularity.

“It’s just insane,” Whalley said.

“It is the first time we’ve had the Year 2s and even with that addition we’ve still had massive growth on top of that, so it’s pretty exciting.

“We had record numbers at try-outs for our Raiders squads and women’s A-grade has eight teams which is fantastic.

“I remember back in 2007 we had 95 teams but it just keeps growing every year.”

Senior competitions will be played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights. Year 2-5 grades and Aussie Hoops will be on Saturday.

Both the men and women’s A-grade will be played on Tuesday night.

Barking Owls, Bethel Breakers, Griffins, Infernos and Railways are new to women’s A and will join Raiders and two Sonics teams.

Ambassadors, Barking Owls, Denmark, Infernos, Raiders, Sonics and Tigers are the men’s A-grade.