A NEW PLAYER DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

 “Championship League”

The “Championship League” will be an additional Domestic competition for boys and girls.
 

Age Groups:  U11; U13; U15; U17, U19 &U23  

                                          Rep Players: No limit.
                                          Grading:  First 3-4 weeks.
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When will it start?
The new Domestic competition starts Monday 13th April.
 
Will it clash with other age based Domestic competitions?  
No, it will not. Day[s] and times of the Championship League will be communicated shortly.
 
Important Points to note:

• Championship League is a new addition to the Domestic competition. As such it qualifies players for “MDBA selection priority” for the 2016 Breaker season.
• Teams/Players can continue to play in the Divisional Domestic competition and also play in the Championship League or play only either the Championship League or the Divisional Domestic competition.

 
How many teams [maximium] will compete in the Championship League?
                               GIRLS   

U11	U13	U15	17	U19	U23
7	7	7	7	TBD	TBD

U11	U13	U15	U17	U19	U23
9	9	9	9	TBD	TBD

*This competition will have a fixed number of teams competing. Nos. indicated is the max. team nos. per age group.
*If an age group[s] gets more teams apply than positions available it is proposed to provide a play off competition to determine the final starting teams. 
*5 minimum teams will be required for an age group to run.
 
Target Market
This competition is geared towards players who want to develop the skills further, who want a bit extra and have reached the skill standard of a representative player. It provides every year a top age and bottom age experience.
 
Do I have to be a current Representative Player to play the Championship League?
No.  There are many talented players who have never played representative basketball who would fit comfortably into the Championship League.
 
Why the odd year age group?
Our Domestic and Representative [Breakers] competitions have even age groups – U12, U14, U16 etc. Players involved in both spend the entire year playing two competitions as either “bottom or top age”.
 
The Championship League is programmed deliberately as odd year age groupings to provide both bottom and top age experience every year. As a result greater all round developmental every year.
 
# A top age Domestic or Representative player to play bottom age in the Championship League
# A bottom age Domestic or Representative player to play top age in the Championship League
 
Players, parents and coached would recognize this initiative heavily reduces the impact of variable growth spurts that occur.  Each year the player gets to be “top dog” and, just as importantly, each year has to work a bit harder while competing against more experienced and most likely more physically developed opponents.
 
MDBA Program development Pathway
MDBA now provides a developmental pathway that each year offers U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, U18, U19 and U23 competitions. Implicit in this will be an increased range of experiences, different role and accepting different responsibilities by the player. It underpins MDBA’s “Player Focused Program”.
 
No Limit Rep Rule
COM sought many opinions on which would be the best way to go with the no limit representative player rule. In the end it was agreed to keep things as simple, run with no limit and let the grading system determine where teams play. There was strong support to provide maximum flexibility. There is provision for a review at the end of the season.
 
Note:- The no limit rep. rule only applies to the Championship League. There is no change to the rep rule governing the current Domestic competition.
 
Breaker Teams:-  The Championship League provides an ideal opportunity for Breaker teams to get another weekly competitive training session together.  Participation will be up to the head and assistant coach, manager, parents and players to discuss and determine.  Maybe not all players can commit but if 7 or more players are keen it is worthy of consideration.  Think of the team benefit with the best top age Breaker teams playing against the best bottom age players from the age group above.   Conversely the best bottom age Breaker teams will have their skills tested against the best top age players from the age group below.  It’s a “win-win” for all.
 
Note:- Nearly every Breaker team consist of players that are predominately top age or bottom age. A bottom age player can always play up.  It is only the odd player or two in a team that are top age in a predominant bottom age team who will have to find a different team in the Championship League. Hopefully coaches from each age group can work together to find a solution in the development interest of these players.
 
U11 Age Group
The opportunity exists for D-Break teams and U10 teams to enter this competition.
 
U19 & U23 Age Groups
Coaches involved with these teams might like to get together and devise teams, make recommendations in the interests of an even competition and player development.  The program is open to such an initiative.
 
Domestic Teams:-   There are current Division One Domestic teams that would be very competitive in the Championship League. There are also teams who currently play with 6 or 7 players that now have the option to add a representative player or two to their line up.  There are also many ex representative players currently forced to play in different teams because of the 3-Rep player who can now get a team together.
 
Expression of Interest Deadline  - Friday 6th March
Given that 1 in every 3 girls and 1 in every 4 boys playing Domestically also plays Breakers, there is a need to quantify the level of interest in the Championship League and the impact on the Divisional Domestic competition.   With an expanding competition court usage must be maximized. If there are teams/players who chose to play only the Championship League then there will be a reduced  court requirement for the Domestic competition.  
 
Please complete the Championship League Expression of Interest Form attached either as a team or as an individual player. Deadline: Friday March 6th.
 
Will you need a team uniform?
MDBA will provide a service for team uniforms. To reduce costs to parents, COM will subsidise uniform cost such that $45 will secure a full uniform. Sample attached. These are high quality uniforms.
 
What if I am a player wanting to play but my team does not?
Simply register as an individual player with MDBA’s on line service or by email  admin@morningtonbasketball.com.au . We will endevour to find you a team.
 
Player Development  - A Comment
The Committee of Management will continue to seek better ways to improve the skill set of players via programming, coaching development and external expertise.  While the Championship League will raise the bar in the quality of competition there are individual skill development initiatives that need to be considered to add a vital/key layer to a player’s development. Currently our players have a performance preparation that involves spending a predominant percentage of their time playing the game relative to individual skill development.  The speed and pressure of a game is not an environment to improve skill in young players.  For a skill to be correctly mastered it must be learnt away from the heat of battle.  New skills must be learnt slowly and broken down into correct movement patterns/segments.  Mastery comes with repeated practice with constant correction.  As the skill develops progression involves increasing the speed of execution up to game type scenarios.  Then it is ready for introduced to the game.  Go the game way of preparation and end up with skill execution that is compromised and hard to change. 
 
Committee of Management
February 2015

 If you are interested in joining the league, please download and complete the Expression of Interest form here (218KB).  
Please return your completed form to the MDBA or email it to admin@morningtonbasketball.com.au