Competition
Junior Domestic
Our junior domestic competition allow boys and girls to experience the fun of basketball in a friendly, non-representative environment. Focused on participation, skills acquisition and sportsmanship.
We Compete in the EDJBA
The Park Orchards Steelers are proud members of the Eastern Districts Junior Basketball Association (EDJBA), the largest junior basketball competition in Australia, with over 1,500 teams and close to 12,000 players.
Whether your child is lacing up for the very first time or has been playing for years, the EDJBA provides a structured, safe, and genuinely fun competition pathway and the Steelers are here to support every player at every step of that journey.
How the competition works
The EDJBA runs a Saturday competition across two seasons:
Summer Season — typically October through March
Winter Season — typically April through September
Each season runs for approximately 16–18 rounds, followed by finals.
Teams are placed into divisions based on age group and skill level, with the EDJBA grading teams at the start of each season and adjusting divisions as needed to ensure competitive, enjoyable basketball for all ability levels.
Games consist of 2 x 20 minute halves and are played on Saturdays where times and venues change weekly. The earliest game starts at 8:30am and run throughout the day until 7:30pm (for our senior players).
Home games are played at one of our three stadiums, and away games are at the stadium of the opposition club.
One of the things that makes the EDJBA work well for families is the flexibility built into the scheduling process; clubs can submit preferences on behalf of their teams ahead of fixture allocation. At the Steelers, we do our best to accommodate families with Saturday morning school sport commitments by requesting afternoon tip-off times for those teams where possible. If your child plays school sport on Saturday mornings, let us know when you register. We will do everything we can to make sure basketball and school commitments work together, not against each other.
Steelers Teams
When selecting the teams we consider gender, age and skill level. New players are generally placed in a team with other new players, so the group consists of players with similar abilities.
We strive to have teams where each player has the opportunity to learn and develop personal skills, as well as contribute evenly to the team efforts!
At the end of each season each player is reviewed in preparation for placing them in teams for the following season. As the player’s skills and abilities change the level of competition changes with them. Players may play together for more than one season, but more often the team will consist of different players.
We encourage our players to get to know new team mates and form friendships outside of their school friendship groups. As a club we believe this helps build confidence and resilience, and strengthens connections with their local communities.
Training
Training sessions run for one hour, one day each week Monday to Friday between 4:00 - 8:00pm (younger teams train earlier, older teams later). Your training time will depend on the availability of your coach. We value our coaches time and try to accomodate their other work and life commitments.
There is a facility in the registration process to advise if you are unable to train at a particular time. Each season you will be notified by email of your team, coach, training times and venue.
Our Venues
Park Orchards Stadium 564 Park Rd Park Orchards 3114
Ringwood Heights Stadium 60 Summit Crescent Ringwood North 3134
Mullum Mullum Stadium (POBC Courts 1 & 2) 1-41 Springvale Rd Donvale 3111
Representative Basketball — The Next Step
For Steelers players who are ready to take their game to the next level, the pathway leads to the Warrandyte Venom; the representative program of the Warrandyte Basketball Association (WBA).
The Venom program has a full player pathway in place, from Under 12s through to Youth and Senior teams in the statewide Big V competition. For Steelers players with ambitions beyond the EDJBA, this is the clear next step; a structured, well-coached environment designed to push players toward the highest levels of the game.