Masters Tournament takes centre court

BASKETBALLERS will descend on Torquay for the Surfcoast Basketball Association (SBA) Masters Tournament in February.

The event, on February 1 and 2, aims to give people over 30 an opportunity to play at a competitive level.

The tournament is separated into categories for over 30s, over 40s, over 50s and over 60s, with this year’s event introducing an all abilities and walking team.

Surfcoast Basketball Association president Leon Sayers said the all abilities team will showcase what the game looks like for people with different challenges before running their own program in 2025.

“We think it’s better for people to be able to come along and see what it’s like before they make a decision about whether they want to join a program and take basketball a bit more seriously.”

Walking basketball is played in the same way, with running swapped for walking and allows those who are no longer able to run up and down the court to still enjoy the game.

Mr Sayers said the introduction of the two new categories is a big step for them and they’re hoping the event will be bigger than this year’s.

“We’ve seen year-on-year growth in the number of teams coming in to play the tournament, we’ve got a lot of teams travelling so it’s not just a local tournament.

“It’s really bringing a lot of people to the Surf Coast simply to come and play, and some people have put our tournament on their favourite list and are going to be coming every year.”

More than 20 teams have entered the 2025 tournament, with organisers expecting around 30 in total.

The games will take place at Torquay’s Wurdi Baierr Stadium with everyone keen on playing encouraged to head along regardless of if they’ve played before or if they have a team.

“They can come along and contact us if they don’t have a team, and we can help create a team or find one for them.

“We just really want people to come and have a look and support all the different divisions that we’ll be running and come and see what basketball looks like.”

Registrations for the event are open now, those without a team can email [email protected]