Kalamunda Eastern Suns
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| Kalamunda Eastern Suns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leagues | NBL1 West |
| Founded | 2008 |
| History | Kalamunda Eastern Suns 2008–present |
| Arena | Ray Owen Sports Centre |
| Location | Lesmurdie, Western Australia |
| Team colors | Orange, black, white |
| CEO | Zac Acott |
| President | Jarod Avila |
| Vice-president | Simon Calvert |
| Head coach | M: Aaron Trahair W: Marcus Bardill |
| Championships | 0 |
| Website | NBL1.com.au |
Kalamunda Eastern Suns is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Kalamunda & Districts Basketball Association (KDBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in Perth's eastern region. The Suns play their home games at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
Background
Kalamunda & Districts Basketball Association (KDBA) was incorporated on 1 October 1971.[1] In 1991, KDBA affiliated with Basketball Western Australia and entered teams as the Kalamunda Hornets in the WA Junior State League competition.[2] In 2001, Eastern Region Basketball Association (ERBA) was established as a junior representative association following the amalgamation of KDBA, Swan Mustangs (SDBA), and Mundaring (HRBA). The teams played as the Eastern Suns.[2][3] Initially there was input from all three associations, but this deteriorated when SDBA found themselves in financial difficulty with increasing debt to Basketball Western Australia. KDBA was in a position to seek a license from the State Basketball League (SBL) but was unwilling to assume the SDBA debt as part of their license (in excess of $40,000). The Swan City Mustangs SBL club and the Association ceased to operate following the 2003 season.[2]
In 2006, ERBA was disbanded and KDBA introduced the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. The following year, KDBA were granted an SBL license for the 2008 season.[2]
SBL / NBL1 West
In 2008, the Suns debuted in both the Men's SBL and Women's SBL,[1][4] with the women's team reaching the semi-finals in their first season.[5][6][7][8][9] In the 2013 season, the women's team made their first SBL Grand Final,[10][11] where they lost 72–47 to the Wanneroo Wolves.[12][13] Between 2008 and 2015, the women's team only missed the finals once.[14][15]
In the 2019 season, the men's team recorded their most wins in a season with 13, making the finals for the first time since 2012[16][17] behind league MVP, Joshua Braun.[18]