The weekend saw the start of the North East Country Basketball League season, with teams from across the North East and Border hitting the courts to represent their town and associations, but there was a notable absence.

Wangaratta will again not field teams in both the men’s and women’s CBL competitions this season, citing logistical challenges with both stadium scheduling and manning the program.

The CBL is the premier open age domestic representative basketball league in Victoria, with the North East region incorporating teams from Albury-Wodonga, Wallan, Shepparton, Echuca, Seymour and Myrtleford

The Warriors have not fielded a men’s team since the 2023 CBL season, who went 1-9 through the competition, while 2022 was the last year for the women.

Wangaratta Basketball Inc president Adam Maher said while it was disappointing not to see the green and black on the court in the CBL this season, certain challenges proved too great to overcome in time.

“We’ve still got some challenges we’re trying to work through,” he said.

“We’re still working through some stuff at the stadium and having access on Saturday nights and things like that, but we’re getting some good, positive feedback now on how it’s going to look.

"We had some challenges around getting coaches and getting people back on board – I don’t know whether it’s because we’ve been off for a little while and we need to get everyone back thinking about that.

“We just couldn’t put it all together for the start of this season – we needed access on Saturday nights, and there’s still a bit of work to be done around that.

“WSAC, Basketball Victoria and us are working really hard to make sure all of that’s ready for us to have a go at going in 2026.”

Maher said there was still a hunger for Wangaratta to re-enter the CBL, with talented players ready, but everything had to be in place first.

“It’s not ideal, we want to get it back,” he said.

“We’ve got some bigger picture things around what we’ll look like in 2027 with our Big V program, but we need to make all of the working cogs fit in together.

“We’ve got three of our players going down to play for Wodonga this year, and another going to Myrtleford.

“Everything has to be working, we 100 per cent need the support of the council and WSAC and make sure all of that is working well, we need to make sure we’ve got our structure right within Wangaratta Basketball, which is all ready to go.”

While the CBL season will pass the Warriors by for another season, basketball is still booming in Wangaratta.

Maher confirmed the club’s November representative tournament will once again be held in Wangaratta this year – it was forced to be played in Wodonga over the last two years due to the construction of the new stadium at WSAC.

The domestic season is also thriving, and set to resume this week, while Aussie Hoops numbers are through the roof.

The pieces are almost there for the Warriors to rejoin CBL – bring on 2026.