Team Selection and Club Philosophy

The following is an explanation of the philosophy of the Derinya Basketball Club, which guides the selection sub-committee when we meet each year and perform the unenviable task of selecting and registering approximately 33 teams consisting of over 250 players. 

The FDBA basketball competition has now changed from a primary school competition to an underage competition.  The change in structure means that our club has also needed to change its guidelines when selecting teams.  We will now be looking at making up teams from one birth year so that teams can potentially stay together from one year to the next.  We will however consider, the option of a child playing up a birth year level, if the child is young for his year level at school, as he/she will be able to do this every year without any impact on the team.  We will not be able to have the same sort of accommodation for children that are born a year earlier than the majority of their school friends as this would impact on the team every year. 

First and foremost, team selection is a numbers game.  Each year we have good numbers and bad numbers across the year levels.  Good numbers being where year levels can become, or remain, divided into teams of around 7. Teams with 6 and 8 players are considered acceptable.  Bad numbers are teams of 5 and 9 players, which are only tolerated when no other options are available or where all coaches in that year level are in agreement to accept either large or small numbers.  Teams of 10 or greater are never considered.  For that reason the club makes it very clear on our registration information sheet that there is NO GUARANTEE that teams will remain the same from year to year.

Teams are only ever altered if the committee feel it is for the betterment of all player participation in the sport.  Prior to any decision to do so, there is consultation with the relevant coaches where their opinions are sought and the various options available are discussed.  Their input is always considered.  It would be unreasonable to expect us to liaise with each player’s family and we expect the coaches to be the voice of their team.

We, as a club, consider that large teams should be avoided whenever possible. With nine players, an option to rotate a player off for each game helps with game time substitutions, but further reduces game time for the players.  It is incumbent on each individual team to choose how they manage their players regarding any player rotations or byes.  

Families should know that they have a voice and any issues or concerns they have over team selection should be brought to our attention.  Coaches have a greater voice as their input into individual players ability, attitude and behaviour may be relevant to the decision making process.  Ultimately, the committee will decide on what they believe is the best and fairest option for all concerned.  Our decisions are not always popular, and pleasing everybody is at times an impossible task.  But after all, this is why we have a selection sub-committee to make independent decisions on what we believe is the fairest for all concerned.

The selection sub-committee will usually comprise of the President, Vice President,  the Enrolment Officers and two to three general committee members.  When the child of a sub-committee member is in a team or year level requiring a determination by the sub-committee, that member abstains from voting in that instance.  This eliminates any real or perceived conflict of interest or bias during team selection.

The Derinya Basketball Club is proud to be able to guarantee a game for all eligible registered players. This is an important difference of our club, meaning our players will never miss out as we will always encourage and accommodate children who want to play the great sport of Basketball.