WABA League, commonly known as the Adriatic League, is a top-level regional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league, featuring female teams from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Clubs from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

had their representatives in WABA League in past seasons. Since 2012 a Cadet WABA League and since 2014 Pionir WABA League is also played.

History

Formation and early years

WABA League was established in 2001 as EWWL League. In its first season it included six teams from four countries (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). After the regular season, it held a tournament in which the three best teams played, which was won by Athlete Celje. Next season the league expanded from six to eight teams, and the final tournament was altered so that the placement included the four top teams. At the final tournament the winner was Željezničar Sarajevo. MZRKL trophy

In 2003 the league changed its name to EWWL Trocal League, which lasted until 2006, and during these seasons the number of teams who played in the league varied from nine to twelve. In the period from 2004 to 2006 it had a representative from Macedonia and then one from Bulgaria in the 2006–07 season. Austrian clubs left the competition in 2004. Since 2003, the competing teams have been from Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006 the league changed its name to WABA NBL which it used till 2008. In 2006 the WABA Cup launched, which existed until 2010, which was attended by participants in the league. The WABA Cup in the year 2007 bore the name Vojko Herskel. In the 2008–09 season the league was named after WABA Multipover; in 2009–10 season, IWBL.

2010s years

In 2010 the league changed to the present name, MŽRKL. The Vojko Herksel Cup was last played. In the 2012–13 season the league included the Hungarian

PEAC-Pécs PEAC-Pécs is the first-class women basketball team of Pécs, Hungary. The team started in the Hungarian Championship division A in 2012/2013 season. Beside the Hungarian Championship the team also attending the Hungarian Cup and the MŽRKL ...

; and the

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

achieved a record in its history, playing 32 matches in the national competitions (regional league, championship and cup) all season without suffering a defeat. In the season of 2013–14 the format of the competition changed. Twelve teams which participated in the league were divided into two groups of six teams. Four first placed teams were placed in the quarterfinals, with the winners to the Final Four. In season 2015-16 is introduced instead of quarterfinals League 6 in which the first phase in which the two groups are placed by 3 teams. The League 6 transmitted the results achieved against teams from the same group in the first phase they finished the League 6. League 6 plays dual circuit system (one game at home and one away) against teams that have qualified from the opposite group previous stage of the competition. At the Final Four will finish in four best teams in the League 6. In September 2016, the league officially changed his name to WABA League. In June 2017, the league sign sponsorship contract with tourist agency BTravel and officially changed his name to BTravel WABA League from the sponsorship reasons.

Names in history

*EWWL League (2001–2003) *EWWL Trocal League (2003–2006) *WABA NBL (2006–2008) *WABA Multipower (2008–2009) *IWBL (2009–2010) *MŽRKL (2010–2016) *WABA League (2016–present)

Logos

Youth competition

Cadet WABA League

In the season 2012–13, the Cadet League was launched, and since it has shown a lot of success in that period, it has continued to be held. The winner of the first two seasons of cadet WABA League is the team Trešnjevka 2009 from Croatia, when he beat the team of

Novi Zagreb Novi Zagreb () is the part of the City of Zagreb located south of the Sava, Sava river. Novi Zagreb forms a distinct whole because it is separated from the northern part of the city both by the river and by the levees around Sava. At the same time ...

and

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

. In the third seasonis the champion was the team of Triglav Kranj, Slovenia, which is defeated in the final match of

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

Pionir WABA League

Following the success of cadet league, a decision was made to launch the pioneering leagues. In the first season, the winner of the pioneering league is team Croatia 2006 from

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, that won at the team of Jedinstvo Tuzla from

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...

Finals

Champions

Notable person's

Former players

Former coaches

* Stipe Bralić * Slađan Ivić *

Marina Maljković Marina Maljković ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Маљковић; born September 26, 1981) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. She currently serves as a head coach for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Super League and for the Serbia women's national ...

Dragan Vuković Dragan Vuković ( sr-cyr, Драган Вуковић; born August 26, 1963) is a Serbian basketball coach. He currently serves as a head coach for the Crvena zvezda of the Women's Basketball League of Serbia and the Women's Adriatic League. ...

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Final Four Most Valuable Player

Top Scorer

References

External links

*
Profile
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:WABA League Multi-national women's basketball leagues in Europe Basketball leagues in Serbia Basketball leagues in Montenegro Basketball leagues in Serbia and Montenegro Sports leagues established in 2001 2001 establishments in Europe Professional sports leagues in Serbia Professional sports leagues in Slovenia Multi-national professional sports leagues