Kilsyth Cobras | |
---|---|
Leagues | NBL1 South |
Founded | 1984 |
History | Men: Kilsyth Cobras 1984–present Women: Kilsyth Cobras 1990–present |
Arena | Kilsyth Sports Centre |
Location | Kilsyth, Victoria |
Team colors | Red, black, white |
CEO | Will van Poppel |
Chairman | Mal Allison (ESD) |
President | Wendy Noyes (K&MDBA) |
Head coach | M: Peter Godfrey W: Mark Watkins |
Championships | Men: ABA (1)Women: ABA (2)SEABL (3)NBL1 (1) |
Conference titles | Men: SEABL (1)Women: SEABL (2) |
Website | kilsythcobras.nbl1.com.au |
Kilsyth Cobras is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Kilsyth and Mountain District Basketball Association Inc. (K&MDBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the City of Maroondah. The Cobras play their home games at Kilsyth Sports Centre.
Kilsyth and Mountain District Basketball Association Inc. (K&MDBA) was established in 1963.[1] In 1987, Eastern Sports Development Ltd (ESD) was established to serve as the management body of Kilsyth Basketball.[1][2]
In 1984, the Kilsyth Cobras men's team debuted in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).[3][4] In 1985, the Cobras finished fourth in the SEABL regular season[3] and went on to reach the ABA National grand final, where they won the National championship with a victory over the Bulleen Boomers.[5]
In 1990, the Cobras were inaugural members of the SEABL women's competition.[3] In 1997, the women's team made their first SEABL grand final and finished runners-up to the Frankston Blues.[4] In 1998, the women's team won the SEABL championship[6][7] and the ABA National championship.[5] They went on to finish as SEABL runners-up again in 1999.[4]
In 1999, the men's team won the SEABL East Conference championship[6][7] but went on to lose in the ABA National grand final to the Geelong Supercats.[5] In 2000, the men's team finished second in the South Conference[3] and went on to reach the ABA National grand final, where they lost to the Hobart Chargers.[8][9]
In 2002, the women's team won the SEABL championship[7][10] and the ABA National championship.[5] In 2003, the women's team lost in the SEABL grand final to the Bendigo Braves.[11] In 2005 and 2007, the men's team lost in the South Conference grand final to the Braves.[12] In 2008, the women's team won their third SEABL championship.[13][14][15]
In 2015 and 2016, the women's team won back-to-back South Conference titles[16][17] but lost both years in the SEABL grand final to the Dandenong Rangers.[18][19][20][21]
After the demise of the SEABL following the 2018 season, a new competition known as NBL1 debuted in 2019 with the Cobras playing in the inaugural season.[22][23] The women's team reached the grand final, where they defeated the Geelong Supercats 86–76 to win the NBL1 championship.[24] Cobras guard Lauren Nicholson was named grand final MVP.[25] The NBL1 South season did not go ahead in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26]