Page 19 - 2022 BWA ANNUAL REPORT

NBL1 WEST
Brighton Pass NBL1 West League Manager
NBL1 WEST’S FIRST UNINTERRUPTED SEASON LEADS TO WA SUCCESS
After a successful conversion to the NBL1 West in 2021, planning began to take the conference and the league to new levels, with covid impacts fading and light at the end of the tunnel ready for a massive 2022 campaign.
Aligning with the NBL1 national brand, the NBL1 West Conference allows an avenue for WA players to showcase their talents on a national scale, landing players like Josh Davey (Lakeside Lightning) and Desiree Kelley (Willetton Tigers) a ticket into respective NBL and WNBL programs to name a few.
The league was excited to welcome the Goldfield Giants into the women’s conference for their inaugural season, finishing 9th overall and just missing out on clutching a spot in the finals series.
The inclusion of the Goldfields women took us to a total of 302 games across the regular season and finals in the West, with all games live-streamed to the NBL1 website with commentary, graphics and stats overlays.
Over 15 million minutes of NBL1 West was live streamed around the world, with Rockingham Flames for taking the number 1 spot nationally in sessions and minutes watched after posting some huge numbers for the Conference and National Finals.
The NBL1 West Championship games were a hot ticket registering sell-out crowds at Bendat Basketball Centre and 8,000 viewers online via Kayo Sports and the NBL1 website.
The Warwick Senators took out the NBL1 West Women’s competition, defeating the Willetton Tigers, while in the Men’s competition, the Rockingham Flames defeated the Geraldton Buccaneers in the most watched game in the country for 2022!
With a reduction in COVID implications, the 2022 National Finals series was full steam ahead. The first annual tournament with the best of all 5 conferences was held at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne, 10-12 September 2022. The Warwick Senators women and Rockingham Flames men both put on huge performances to take out the national title for both competitions, a feather in the cap showcasing WA basketball at its finest.
We gratefully entered the second year with our naming rights partner Coles Express, as well as our major partners Footlocker, Dream Courts & Kayo Sports. We thank them for their continued support of the NBL1 nation wide.
“The league was excited to welcome the Goldfield Giants into the women’s conference for their inaugural season”
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