Newcastle Falcons (NBL1 East)
Basketball team in Newcastle, New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newcastle Falcons is a NBL1 East club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of Newcastle Basketball, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Falcons play their home games at Newcastle Basketball Stadium.
.png)
| Newcastle Falcons | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leagues | NBL1 East |
| Founded | 1983 |
| History | Newcastle Hunters 1983–2021 Newcastle Falcons 2022–present |
| Arena | Newcastle Basketball Stadium |
| Capacity | 2,200 |
| Location | Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Team colors | Red, navy blue, white |
| President | Jaclyn Mottram |
| General manager | Sara Jiear[1] |
| Head coach | M: Josh Morgan W: Bernadette Schmidt |
| Ownership | Newcastle Basketball |
| Championships | Men: ABA (1)Waratah League (2)Women: Waratah League / NBL1 East (4) |
| Conference titles | Men: SEABL (1) |
| Website | NBL1.com.au |
Club history
Newcastle Basketball was formed in 1946.[2] Games were played in two makeshift stadiums, one being an old aircraft hangar at Tighes Hill, before a purpose built basketball stadium was erected in Wickham. The move to Newcastle Basketball Stadium (Broadmeadow) was made in 1969.[2]
In 1983, Newcastle Basketball began fielding a men's team in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).[3] The Newcastle Hunters were SEABL South champions[4][5] and ABA National champions in 1986. They were ABA runners-up in 1987.[6]
In 1990, Newcastle Basketball entered a team in the inaugural SEABL women's competition.[3] The women's team was originally known as the Newcastle Scorpions.[7] Both the men's team and women's team left the SEABL following the 1998 season.[3]
In 2000, the Hunters men won the Basketball NSW Premier League.[8] The following year, the Premier Division was renamed the Waratah League, with the league joining the Australian Basketball Association (ABA).[9] The Hunters men were Waratah League runners-up in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2011.[9]
In 2016, the Hunters women were crowned Waratah League champions for the first time.[10] In 2018, the men won their first championship since 2000.[11] In 2019, the women won their second championship in four seasons.[12] The 2021 women's championship was shared by the Hunters and the Sutherland Sharks after the season was cut short in August due to lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
In late 2021, following the club's admission to the new NBL1 East competition replacing the Waratah League,[14] Newcastle Basketball surveyed the local community to gauge support for a potential rebranding of the club. The club was subsequently renamed the Newcastle Falcons (after the defunct national league NBL franchise of the same name) after 51% of the survey's respondents voted for the change of name.[15][16]
In 2024, the Falcons women reached the NBL1 East Grand Final, where they defeated the Sutherland Sharks 85–78 to win the NBL1 East championship[17][18] led by league MVP Nicole Munger.[19]