Hawks Heading to New Elite League
After another great season on court, the good news keeps rolling in for the Ringwood Hawks. This week, the Hawks have been announced as one of the 18 foundation license holders for new Senior Elite Men’s and Women’s League which is set to commence in March 2019.
Basketball Victoria will manage the new League which is yet to be officially named, and will feature all of the existing Victorian based SEABL Clubs plus Eltham, Waverley, Knox and of course the Hawks from the Big V. Tasmanian teams have not been forgotten with Hobart, North West Tasmania (Men Only) and Launceston (Women only) also admitted in to the new League along with the Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra.
Hawks President Tim Mottin was very happy to receive the good news on Wednesday afternoon .
“Our Club has done some great work in recent years, not just on the court but off the court as well.”
“This is a reward for all that hard work and we can now provide Hawks kids with a real opportunity to play Basketball at the second highest level in Australia.”
The inception of the new League was fast tracked by Basketball Victoria after the SEABL League was controversially shut down in August, leaving teams in limbo until this week’s announcement. It is believed that as many as 24 Clubs submitted proposals before the final 18 were selected.
Hawks Men’s Head Coach Ken Harrington was also excited by the news and quickly pointed out the local rivalries that will now be well worth the price of admission.
“There is going to be some unbelievably entertaining battles in the Elite League.” Harrington Said.
“With games against Rival Clubs like Nunawading, Dandenong and Kilsyth, it will create a lot of excitement and also provide our teams with the biggest challenge they have faced in a long time.”
“As we always do, we will compete hard and the Club is excited by the new challenge.”
The Hawks will also look forward to visiting traditional power Clubs like the Bendigo Braves, the Ballarat Miners and last year’s SEABL Champions the Hobart Chargers.
With the new League now in place, the Hawks will no doubt look to strengthen their playing stocks with player announcements to be made over the coming weeks. Both Men’s and Women’s teams will start their pre-season in January.
SENIOR ELITE LEAGUE – 2019 FOUNDATION TEAMS
• Albury-Wodonga
• Ballarat
• Bendigo
• Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence
• Dandenong
• Diamond Valley
• Eltham
• Frankston
• Geelong
• Hobart
• Kilsyth
• Knox
• Melbourne Tigers
• North West Thunder / Launceston (co-licencees)
• Nunawading
• Ringwood
• Sandringham
• Waverley
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