About Us

Background

St Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club Inc (“the club”) is an incorporated association registered in Victoria (number A0007762R), is a non-profit organisation and is managed by an elected committee.

The club plays in the junior domestic competition ran by the Keilor Basketball Association Junior (KBAJ) and participates in both the Summer and Winter seasons.  The club has nearly 60 teams across all age divisions (Under 10’s to Under 19’s).  Over 400 children are registered with the club, the club is both strong and viable and is focussed on participation, development, team and success.

• St Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club was formed in the early 1970’s by the parish. The club is a separate entity from the school and parish but we work in close partnership with the school
• We play in the junior domestic competition ran by the Keilor Basketball Association (KBA)
• In the 2019/2020 Summer season we fielded 58 teams across all age divisions, starting from Under 10’s through to and including Under 10’s with 30 boy teams and 19 girl teams. We had over 400 children registered with the club
• The club has enjoyed many successes over the years, we are well represented in finals with many teams qualifying across all age levels
• We are a strong and viable club focussed on participation, development, team and success

Junior Clinics

Our club is committed to the development of basketball and we understand that our junior players are critical to our future.  The club runs junior clinics at various times.

Presentation Day

The club provides annual awards (trophies) at the end of the Winter season.  This is an opportunity for teams to celebrate their successes.

Relationship with St Christopher’s Catholic Primary School

The club have a strong relationship and work in close partnership with St Christopher’s Catholic Primary School (“the school”) and St Christopher’s Catholic Parish (“the parish”).  This connection dates all the way back to 1970 when the parish formed the club.  The club is not affiliated with the school or parish but the close links have continued with the club’s home base being situated at the school hall.

Summer and Winter Seasons

The Keilor competition currently runs from October to March for the summer seasons with an extended break over the Christmas period and April to September for the winter season.

The summer season is aligned with Term 4 and Term 1 of the school calendar. The winter season is aligned with Term 2 & 3 of the school calendar.

Training Venues

The club has developed relationships with several local schools for training. 

Volunteers

As with most domestic basketball clubs, volunteers make the club work and it can only be as good as the volunteers make it.  Our club relies heavily on volunteers to ensure that the 400+ junior players take the court each week.

Our basketball club is run, operated, managed, coached and almost anything else you can imagine by volunteers.  Volunteers are invaluable resources that help to ensure the success of the club and the best experience for all involved in the club.

We pride ourselves on being a very friendly, welcoming, family orientated club.

The club is formed

St Christopher’s Parish Priest, Fr Phelan recognised the importance of sport for both fitness and fun and inaugurated many sporting clubs. In the late 1960’s, initiated by Fr Phelan, the St Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club was formed, deriving its name from the association between the school and parish community.

BINGO Proceeds

In the beginning, the club was supported through the proceeds of a BINGO night which was held every Thursday night in the old parish hall which was not suitable for basketball training. Over the years, fathers of children who played basketball with the club, ran the BINGO on a roster system and the club was entitled to a percentage of the takings. The wise investment of this money, principally through one of the club’s first treasurers, Mick Gale, ensured that steps were being taken to procure a venue to call home.

Home Base & Primary Training Facility

The one thing that was missing over the years was a place for the club to call its own.

The St Christopher’s Primary School principal approached the club as a non-profit community group to be part of the school’s qualifying arrangement with the Australian Government’s Primary Schools for the 21st Century element of the Building the Education Revolution (BER) program. The basketball committee with the then president, Bruce Scott were pleased to come on board and renew the connection between the parish community and club, it was as if the hopes of those who founded the club were to come true.

This partnership renewed the association with St. Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club, St Christopher’s Primary School and the Parish Community and completed a journey that began about 40 years earlier in the late 1960’s.

The money so carefully invested by previous treasurers and their committees enabled the basketball committee at that time to contribute towards state of the art basketball equipment in the St. Christopher’s hall/stadium.  The club was proud to have a home base in conjunction with the school.

Indebted to Many Volunteers

Over the years, the club has been supported by many wonderful people in many different roles; as players, coaches, administrators, fund raisers, managers. An important feature of the club is the number of people, who, have come through the club as players, and then used their skills as coaches. In some cases 3 generations of families have played.

St. Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club Inc. is indebted to the past presidents and committee members and especially to Stan Becker, Peter Tyrell, Jenni Guminski, Bruce White, Peter Blackmore, Mick Gale and family, Eddie Service, George Agius, Mick Kelly, Bernie Jansen, Dave Sutton, Bernie O’Sullivan, Tony Bongiorno, Ron Pearce, Paul Stark, David Stevens who together with their many associates, the coaches and players worked so hard for the benefit of St. Christopher’s Junior Basketball Club.