Competition Co-design Workshops have resulted in a new competition framework for 2022
Basketball community representatives attended two competition co-design workshops held on August 9 and 23, 2021 tasked with reviewing all aspects of our Metro and District League competitions. The forum was represented by:
- Basketball Adelaide
- Commissioners
- Competitions Committee
- Referees
- High Performance
- Junior Development Officers (JDO’s)
- Competitions Department
The workshops included a combination of small group activities and whole group discussions to identify ideal elements of an effective competition as well as the review and discussion of previous work undertaken by various stakeholder groups over the past few years.
Based on feedback gathered in Workshop#1, three Competition Models were presented to the whole group in Workshop#2 which confirmed the understanding of current preferences and prior work undertaken to date. Participants broke into three smaller groups and discussed the pros, cons and risks associated with each model including implementation strategies and contingencies.
Groups had freedom to design new competition models and after group discussion, participants indicated a 3,2,1 preference vote for each model with 3 being the most preferred and 1 the least preferred for consideration by the Basketball SA Commission.
The Basketball SA Commission reviewed the recommendations from the workshops at a Commission meeting held on Monday 30 August 2021. The Commission resolved to:
- Adopt a new competition framework to be introduced in 2022, implemented for 4 years (with a review after 2 years)
- Revert the Basketball SA Competition Program to be known as District League for all Divisions, chronologically from Division 1 onwards and removing reference to Metro League.
- Provide the Competitions Department with the authority to implement appropriate amendments to the close of District and Metro Season 2021
- To review the Terms of Reference of the Competitions Committee
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2022 Competition Framework
1. The new competition framework to be implemented from 2022 for a period of 4 years (with a review conducted after 2 years) will consist of:
This framework combines features from multiple options presented. It will increase opportunity for tournament play along with providing flexibility for clubs to run trials and development programs post the main District season.
A smaller working group, selected by the Competitions Department will be established to determine the grading system to be deployed in 2022.
2. Revert the Basketball SA Competition Program to be known as District League for all Divisions, chronologically from Division 1 onwards and removing reference to Metro League.
Different league categories could form the foundation for future competition frameworks, however at this time and in line with stakeholder and member feedback, the competition will be known as District League with chronological numbering from Division 1 onwards. This option may be revisited and explored at a later stage.
3. Amendments to the close of District and Metro Season 2021
In order to implement a new competition framework in 2022, clubs need as much time as possible to conduct internal trials and prepare teams into 2022 age groups.
As previously advised, rounds 6 and 7 that were missed due to COVID-19 restrictions will not be replayed. Remaining scheduled games will be re-ordered where possible to facilitate all teams playing each other at least once in all divisions.
Unfortunately, State Championships will not be held this year in 2021.
An alternate format for finals will be used for 2021 to account for missed rounds and uneven games played. The 2021 finals series will see the top 8 teams play off over 3 weekends and 4 finals rounds.
These were not easy decisions to make, however programming needs to take into consideration the current and unpredictable COVID-19 environment, including recent exposure sites in South Australia. The removal of State Champs from the 2021 calendar provides an efficient close to the current season, but also provides flexibility to finish the 2021 season should this be needed due to further COVID-19 restrictions or stay at home orders.
The Basketball SA Competitions Department extends its warm thanks to the many club personnel who deliberated and considered a range of options and rationale which greatly assisted the formation of the schedule for the remainder of 2021 which is outlined in the table below.
Note the below table excludes NBL1, Youth League & District Seniors
Covid-19 Contingencies
As noted above, the COVID-19 environment is fluid and circumstances can change rapidly, impacting our ability to play sport. The following guidelines will be followed if further games are missed due to COVID-19 restrictions or stay at home orders:
- Minor round games missed due to COVID-19 lockdowns will not be replayed
- for the purposes of finals qualification, these games will count as games played
- for the purposes of finals qualification, these games will count as games played
- The 12th November 2021 is the latest date the Grand Final will be rescheduled to:
- A top 8 final series will be played over 3 weekends where this can be accommodated up to 12 November 2021
- A top 6 final series will be played over 2 weekends where this can be accommodated up to 12 November 2021
- A top 4 final series will be played over 1 weekend where this can be accommodated up to 12 November 2021
- The 2021 Metro and District Season will be considered over/forfeited if unable to conduct the Grand Final by 12th November 2021
Youth League and District Seniors
Youth League and District Seniors will play out Season 2021 as originally scheduled, and Covid-19 contingency guidelines if required:
- Minor round games missed due to COVID-19 lockdowns will not be replayed
- for the purposes of finals qualification, these games will count as games played
- The 27th November is the latest date the Grand Final will be rescheduled to
- A top 8 final series will be played over 3 weekends where this can be accommodated up to 27 November 2021
- A top 6 final series will be played over 2 weekends where this can be accommodated up to 27 November 2021
- A top 4 final series will be played over 1 weekend where this can be accommodated up to 27 November 2021
- The 2021 Season will be considered over/forfeited if unable to conduct the Grand Final by 27th November 2021
The competition framework for Youth League and District Seniors was not reviewed as part of the Competition Co-design Workshops. Any changes to be implemented for 2022 will be considered via consultation with clubs and key stakeholders and communicated separately.