Basketball Illawarra is the governing body of basketball in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and is based in the city of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. The club fields both men's and women's teams in state representative conceptions including the

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

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 ...

competition the

NBL1 East The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National ...

who compete as the 'Illawarra Hawks'.

Club history

Background

The Illawarra Basketball Association was established in 1954 as a local basketball competition among seven teams who registered to play. Their first venue was the

Unanderra Unanderra ( ) is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 6 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla ...

Hostel before moving to their current home in 1965,

Beaton Park Stadium Beaton Park Stadium is an Australian basketball centre in Gwynneville, New South Wales. It was the home of National Basketball League side Illawarra Hawks between 1979 and 1998, and is the home to local basketball in Wollongong. It was nicknam ...

. In 1979, Basketball Illawarra entered into the newly formed National Basketball League for its inaugural season that year. Since then, the NBL side has become largely independent of the Illawarra Basketball Association with separate ownership.

Representative Competitions

Basketball Illawarra's senior men's and women's representative teams compete in the

, formerly known as the Waratah League. Playing as the 'Illawarra Hawks', they were

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

s of the men's state premier division championship in 1998 and 1999 prior to the formation of the Waratah League. The Hawks men's side were champions of the inaugural Waratah League in 2001 and again in 2011. The women's side were

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

in the 2011 Waratah League season.

Venue

The Hawks and recreational competitions operated by the association, play games at the

, nicknamed 'The Snake Pit'. The stadium opened in 1965 and is located in the Illawarra suburb of Gwynneville, New South Wales. The stadium previously hosted home games for the professional NBL side of the same name until their move to

WIN Entertainment Centre Wollongong Entertainment Centre (also known by its naming rights sponsor WIN Entertainment Centre and colloquially as the WEC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The WEC opened on 5 September 1998 ...

. The NBL side's front office is still based at the stadium and the team use it as a training facility.

References

External links

* {{Wollongong Sports Teams Waratah League teams 1954 establishments in Australia Basketball teams established in 1954 Basketball teams in New South Wales Sport in Wollongong