AFTER a postponed, then cancelled 2020 season, the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) will tip-off on Friday night with the first phase of the 2021 grading. In this article we explain how the grading works, with the teams sorted into pools and over the next couple of months will earn places in either the Championship division or lower leagues.

How does the grading work?

The next three weeks, each of the teams will face off in a round robin style to determine the next stage of the grading. The winner of each group – the one who finishes on top of the group at the end of the three rounds – will automatically qualify for the VJBL Championship group. For everyone else, they must go through more grading to determine if they can join the top ranked sides in there.

Each of the teams that finish second and third in the groups will face off against teams from other groups. For example, the team that finishes second in Pool A will take on the team that finishes third in Pool B, whilst the team that finished second in Pool A will take on the team that finishes second in Pool F. There will be six matches, with the winner of these matches then qualifying for the VJBL Championship group.

By the end of those four weeks, the VJBL will have 12 of the 20 teams qualified and needing a further eight. The teams that finish bottom of their Pools in this Phase One, will head to crossover games for those teams in Pool 2 that win their pools. From there, the winner of those crossover games go into Grading Phase Two, to face the losers of the second and third placed crossover games. Of the 16 teams making it into those Pools, the four winners of the pools qualifier for the VJBL Championship, and then the second and third placed teams face off, with the winners to then go to the VJBL Championship and the losers to head to the League 1.

Picture credit: Basketball Victoria

It might sound complicated, but for the next three weeks, these teams are battling it out for the first six spots in the VJBL Championship League.

U18 Boys:

Pool 1A

Melbourne Tigers
Waverley Falcons
Whittlesea Pacers
Wyndham Basketball

Pool 1B

Dandenong Rangers 2
Eltham Wildcats
Hawthorn Magic
Nunawading Spectres

Pool 1C

Bulleen Boomers
Casey Cavaliers
Craigieburn Eagles
Diamond Valley Eagles

Pool 1D

Dandenong Rangers
Frankston Blues
Kilsyth Cobras
Pakenham Warriors

Pool 1E

Bendigo Braves
Eltham Wildcats 2
McKinnon Cougars
Southern Peninsula Sharks

Pool 1F

Geelong United
Keilor Thunder
Knox Raiders
Sunbury Jets

U18 Girls:

Pool 1A

Dandenong Rangers
Dandenong Rangers 2
Frankston Blues
Waverley Falcons

Pool 1B

Keilor Thunder
Kilsyth Cobras
McKinnon Cougars
Sunbury Jets

Pool 1C

Bellarine Storm
Bulleen Boomers
Knox Raiders
Melbourne Tigers 2

Pool 1D

Casey Cavaliers
Diamond Valley Eagles
Eltham Wildcats
Hawthorn Magic

Pool 1E

Altona Gators
Bendigo Braves
Melourne Tigers
Sandringham Sabres

Pool 1F

Ballarat Rush
Nunawading Spectres
Ringwood Hawks
Southern Peninsula Sharks