The Basketball WA State Championships (State Champs) is a series of carnivals that run over five weekends from mid-November through to mid-December. 

Every Perth-based and country-based basketball association (club) is invited to enter girls and boys teams in the following age groups:

• U11 (players born in 2013/2014/2015)
• U13 (players born in 2011/2012)
• U15 (players born in 2009/2010)
• U17 (players born in 2007/2008)
• U19 (boys only - players born in 2005/2006)
• U20 (girls only - players born in 2004/2005/2006)

The WA Basketball League (WABL) is WA's representative junior basketball competition. It is the next level up from Domestic basketball.

• Domestic basketball is played within a basketball association. It is not selective. Anyone who wants to play in a junior Domestic competition can play, so long as they can find a team to play in.
• WABL is played for your basketball association. You have to be selected to play in your basketball association’s WABL teams.

WABL gameplay is much more structured than Domestic gameplay. In WABL, players are expected to play ‘we basketball’ over ‘me basketball’. They will often be called on to play roles that prioritise the needs of their team over their individual needs. Players who are very dominant in Domestic competition and are highly individual can take a while to adjust to the structured, team-first environment of WABL.

There are 13 basketball associations that field teams in WABL:

Each association can enter up to four teams (10 players per team) in each of the following age categories, boys and girls:

• U12 (players born in 2013/2014/2015)
• U14 (players born in 2011/2012)
• U16 (players born in 2009/2010)
• U18 (players born in 2007/2008)
• U20 (boys only - players born in 2005/2006)
• U21 (girls only - players born in 2004/2005/2006)

For players who wish to achieve selection in a Perth Redbacks 2024 WABL team, selection in a 2023 Perth Redbacks State Champs team is advantageous but not essential.

Our 2023 State Champs trials will be open trials. All players are invited to register and attend these trials.

Our 2024 WABL trials will be closed trials. 

• The players who will automatically receive invitations to those trials are:
  • All 2023 Redbacks WABL players and train ons
  • All 2023 Redbacks State Champs players
• All other invitations to our 2024 WABL trials are at our discretion.

To be clear:

• 2023 Perth Redbacks WABL players are free to opt out of 2023 State Champs and come back in January 2024 to trial for WABL. But if they do so, it’s with the understanding that it will give them only 2 trials to show coaches what they can do (rather than an entire State Champs campaign).
• If a player is selected in a 2023 Perth Redbacks State Champs team, this does not guarantee selection in a 2024 Perth Redbacks WABL team. It only guarantees an automatic invitation to our 2024 WABL trials.

The full process is summarised in the chart in the next section.

This session is designed to familiarise triallists with what they can expect at the State Champs trials and hopefully relieve some of the ‘fear of the unknown’. All registered triallists in the U11 to U17 age groups are welcome to attend the appropriate session below for their age. The session will most benefit those who’ve never attended a basketball trial before.

Trial 0 - Saturday 14 October

This trial is for boys born in 2007-2015 who did not play WABL for Perth Redbacks in 2023.

Important note: A number of players from Trial 0 will be selected to progress to Trial 1. If you are required to attend Trial 0 and miss it for any reason, even illness or injury, you can’t be selected to progress to Trial 1.

Trial 1 - Sunday 15 October

This trial is for:

• All girls

• All boys born 2005/2006

• All boys born 2007-2014 who played WABL for Perth Redbacks in 2023

• All boys born 2007-2015 who’ve been invited to progress from Trial 0

Trial 2 - Sunday 22 October

This trial is for all players who have been invited to progress from Trial 1.

The below numbers of teams are our best estimates. The final number of teams selected for each gender/age group is dependent on the size of the selection pool.

The State Champs competition weekends are:

• 18/19 November 2023 – Under 11 Boys and Under 13 Girls (Divisions 2–5)
• 25/26 November 2023 – Under 11 Girls and Under 15 Boys (Divisions 2–5)
• 2/3 December 2023 – Under 13 Boys and Under 15 Girls (Divisions 2–5)
• 9/10 December 2023 – Under 17 Boys, Under 17 Girls, Under 19 Boys and Under 20 Girls (Divisions 2–5)
• 15/16/17 December 2023 – State Titles – All Championship Divisions across all age groups

Each team can expect to play 4-5 games over the course of the weekend (more if the team makes finals).

• All our Team 1s will compete at State Titles (the final ‘Championship’ weekend of State Champs)
• Our Team 2s will play in Division 2 or 3
• Our Team 3s will play in Division 3 or 4
• Our Team 4s will play in Division 4 or 5

Players are required to attend up to three x 2-hour trials over the course of:

• Saturday 14 October 2023
• Sunday 15 October 2023
• Sunday 22 October 2023

All players selected in a State Champs team are required to attend all State Champs training sessions which will be held for 90 minutes every Sunday leading into your State Champs competition weekend starting on Sunday 29 October. Some teams will also have a mid-week session.

All selected players are expected to:

• Abide by our players’ code of conduct
• Attend all scheduled training sessions unless unwell. (Injured players are still expected to attend training.)
• Purchase and wear the Perth Redbacks Red playing shorts ($55) and reversible training singlet ($30) to all training sessions.
• Pay the State Champs registration fee of $110

All parents are expected to:

• Abide by our parents and spectators’ codes of conduct and our zero-tolerance behaviour policy.
• Volunteer for scoring duties on their child’s State Champs competition weekend.

Click here to register your child for the 2023 Perth Redbacks State Champs trials.

Once registered, you will hear from us again in the week before trials with more information.