Join Us
Who can join the Tigers Junior Girls?
Girls under 21 years old can try out for the Melbourne Tigers Junior Girls.
Each year at the end of the VJBL Championship/finals season, positions in all of the Tigers Junior Girls teams are declared open. To secure a playing position in one of our teams, all athletes interested have to attend our annual Tryouts. Registrations are now closed for the 2023-24 VJBL Season. Please contact Administrator Fiona for joining enquiries: juniortigers@mcba.net.au
Registrations for our 2024 Tiny Tigers and Development Squads will open in January.
How many teams are there?
The Tigers aim to enter 5-6 teams in the U12, U14 and U16 age groups, 4 teams in the U18 age group and 1 team in U20’s.
Team numbers are dependent on having the right resources available to support the best possible teams.
What are Tryouts?
Tryouts are the selection process for securing a position on one of the Tigers Junior Girls teams. Athletes then have to earn their position to be selected in one of our teams.
Tryouts normally commence on the last Sunday of the September school holidays so please plan accordingly. There are often 4 – 5 sessions, some of which will be held midweek.
The Tigers aim to make up the best possible teams to compete at the best possible levels!
Registration for the 2023-2024 Tigers Junior Girls Tryouts are now closed. Please contact Administrator Fiona for joining enquiries: juniortigers@mcba.net.au
Frequently Asked Questions
The Melbourne Tigers Girls Junior Basketball Club strives to assist the development of girls and empower young women through sport in all its undertakings. Accordingly, we emphasise commitment, resilience, generosity and team work as key core values in our club culture.
The Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) incorporates competitions conducted state-wide and provides the highest level of junior competition in Victoria. The VJBL boasts 1,306 representative teams from 54 associations across Victoria. In the last VJBL calendar year 18,751 games were scheduled at 79 venues. 13,949 registered players participated across the competition.
The competition includes the U12 to U21 age groups, in a graded structure from Victorian Junior Championship League to VJL8 grade.
The VJBL is a performance-based competition and is for representative players. Therefore, in order to be selected to a club and team you are required to go through the tryout process.
At the Melbourne Tigers, you must be selected in a team in order to represent the club in the VJBL. Tryouts are held each year in October and athletes must undertake the tryout process in order to be selected in a team.
The VJBL birthday cut off is 31 December each year. Eg. a child cannot play U12 if they turn 12 in the year of competition.
In order to attend tryouts, you must pre-register via the formal registration process before tryouts commence. All players who wish to try out for the Melbourne Tigers must pre-register on the online registration system.
All players who wish to try out for the Melbourne Tigers must pre-register on the online registration system.
You will note there is a once off $35 fee to cover the court costs for tryouts.
Once you have registered online, you will receive confirmation and your daughter is required to attend the designated tryout session for her age group.
Check in at the tryout desk before the first session. Please arrive at least 20 minutes before the start time of the session. We will apply a pre-allocated identification number to assist the coaches identify athletes during the tryouts.
We encourage everyone to pre-register EARLY!
Once the quota of registered players have is reached or the first tryout session commences, the registration system will close.
No walk-ups are allowed on tryout days and sessions.
New athletes are reminded that this pre-registration does NOT commit you to the club but simply registers for tryouts.
Players from other representative clubs are always welcome at the Melbourne Tigers. At Tigers it is mandatory that you have a Permission to Train to be able to participate in tryouts at the Tigers.
VJBL rules place a limit of two external ’Representative’ players who can be included to a new team in any one season, for teams ranked in pools 1 to 5.
For players who do join the Club from another Association, it is the sole responsibility for the player/parent to pay and submit their clearance form to the VJBL, upon receiving a position in a Tigers team. New players will not be able to participate in VJBL scheduled games until they have been cleared and listed on the VJBL clearance list.
During the week immediately after the conclusion of the last tryout, all athletes will be made a formal offer via email of which squad they are being selected to.
Parents will be required to accept that offer or decline within a short timeframe.
Once all positions have been secured, all squad lists will be published on the Melbourne Tigers Girls TeamApp during the week after the last tryout session.
The club has adopted this strategy to allow parents to initially support their own children through the announcement process and reduce the potential for a range of emotional responses in a public setting.
Disappointments are inevitable once final teams have been announced and the Club has a formal feedback process.
Upon accepting your child’s offer, you have the option of formally requesting in writing via email, feedback on your daughter’s selection.
The Director of Coaching will manage this process and evaluate your child’s performance in thier team at training, games, tournaments and during grading Phase 1, as well as seek feedback from current and past coaches and selectors during tryouts. Formal feedback will then be provided before the end of the calendar year.
Each team trains twice a week – on Sunday mornings at MSAC followed by a midweek session, typically on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
Actual session times and venues will be organised by the Director of Coaching and the Midweek Court Coordinator with support from the Committee.
• Costs for 2020 were as follows: Club annual membership $650 per player, with reduced rate for siblings (early bird payment reduced the fee to $600pp)
• Midweek court fee $225 per player
• Team Kitty for venue scoresheet $140 – $180 per season
• Tournament Fees. Most teams enter one or two tournaments. Entry varies from tournament to tournament but can be $400 per team. Please refer to following question on ‘Tournaments’ that outlines likely costs to attend elite, interstate and/or national tournaments).
• Start-up uniform $160-$250,
Exact costs for each season developed by the Tigers Committee and will be announced by mid-November.
It is important that new members to the Club are aware that we rely on a range of revenue streams to make the program’s budget balance. Membership fees are important, but we also generate revenue from sponsorship and fundraising. All members of our club are expected to support and participate in relevant fundraising activities as they help keep our membership fees as low as possible.
Games are played Friday evenings and generally alternate between our home court at MSAC and away venues. There may be extensive travel required on Friday evenings to other courts.
The younger age groups tend to have games scheduled earlier (6.40pm or 7.40pm), whilst U16 and U18 game times are more likely to fall around 8.40 or 9.40pm.
While the VJBL tries to limit travel distances for all teams, it is not unusual for games on Friday evenings to be arranged at venues as diverse as Frankston, Dandenong, Knox, Nunawading, Lilydale, Diamond Valley, Darebin, Sunbury, Werribee, Geelong or even Ballarat and La Trobe Valley. Fill up your tank and look forward to the opportunity for long conservations with your child!
Representative basketball is different to domestic basketball where even court time is often the aim. Accordingly, even court time for all players is not guaranteed. Rather, players earn their court time by their attitude, progress and attendance at training and potential to contribute to the overall team’s success. Please be aware that most teams run to ten players, so logic would dictate that anything over 20 minutes court time, per player per game, is ‘ahead’ of the average, so players should be patient about their court time aspirations.
If your child is not consistently achieving the court time minutes that you deem reasonable, please talk to the Club’s Coaching Director to ascertain what steps your daughter might take to earn more court time.
In close games, especially with VC teams, it is possible that some athletes may see reduced court time. This is the harsh reality of competing at the top level of the sport. However, court time can be earned by performance as outlined above, giving every athlete the potential to control their own team contribution.
The Melbourne Tigers Girls Junior club participates in the spring carnival every year which consists of 2 weeks of games on Friday nights directly prior to the commencement of Grading Phase 1.
The Club has an inclusive culture and does its best to accommodate athletes with disabilities and special needs. This could range from common issues like asthma and allergies through to athletes who have ADHD or Asperger syndrome to name just a few. Experience has shown that success comes when the parents make the Club aware as early as possible of any issues so that coaches can be made aware and adjust, as necessary, their training programs.
Please advise the Director of Coaching, Club President or relevant Age Group Head Coach of your child’s needs. It goes without saying that we will respect confidences shared.
There is an expectation that all Tryouts are attended. However, from time to time pre-existing commitments may be already in place.
You are required to advise at the online register process of any known absences.
If unforeseen events occur during the Tryout period please email:
Tigersgirlstryouts@mcba.net.au
The selection process will involve input from the club’s coaches involved in that particular age group managed by the Tigers Girls Director of Coaching. It is important to understand that past team selection and playing grade is not an automatic indication of future team selection.
Athletes will be assessed against the following selection criteria:
• Potential to compete successfully at VJBL level.
• Game sense, competitiveness and athletic ability (e.g. speed, quick hands and strength)
• Potential to be socially compatible and display teamwork
• Having the right attitude towards the coach, showing interest and respect at all times.
• Being highly receptive to coaching feedback, including the ability to transfer information into training and playing situations
• Outstanding desire and commitment to improving mental, physical and basketball skills.
Within this process coaches will strive to be objective and:
• Demonstrate an even-handed approach to every athlete.
• Support the selection process and reinforce the qualities the club is looking for and the commitments required.
Please remember that whilst the club strives to provide the most transparent and objective process it can, subjectivity is an inherent part of all such team selections
Parents are not permitted to approach and engage with coaches during tryout sessions. There will be Tiger volunteers helping co-ordinate the whole process and they will be happy to answer most reasonable questions.
If you matter is of a serious nature, then parents can make a request to speak directly with the Director of Coaching.
We understand that parents are often worried about the outcomes of the tryouts, however coaches and athletes need to provide space in order to focus all their energies on the actual tryout process to be able to properly evaluate every athlete and make informed assessments.
As indicated further on, there is a formal feedback process available AFTER teams have been selected.
Athletes will warm up as a group, be exposed to a range of skill aspects and be asked to compete in various playing situations. The selection process recognises that some elements may be new or unfamiliar to some players. There are formal inter-squad games and final squad trainings to allow the coaches to establish if each player is the correct fit for each team.
Players are asked to arrive prepared to concentrate hard and give their full effort and attention to the coaches.
We try to accommodate every player and place in a team as long as the selection committee feels that that team can be competitive and provided we can resource each team with a suitable coach. We strive to have an idea of the number of potential teams for each age group as early as possible, once player and coach numbers are confirmed and we will promptly communicate that information to all families involved.
Squads are announced after tryouts on the website and are not ‘set in stone’ until after the first round of grading (mid-December).
The tryout process is still under way and all athletes are being evaluated to ensure they are the correct fit for their team, age group, grade and level and that the selection process has been accurate.
Squads are maintained throughout the Spring Carnival, Southern Peninsula Tournament, WFM tournament and Grading Phase 1 to ensure the balance of the teams is correct.
This is to allow for long term injuries, players that decide not to go forward, whilst others who may struggle to compete at the required level.
The club reserves the right to make any changes to any squads and athletes as they see fit and what they believe is in the best interests for the athlete, team and club at any time up until the end of Grading Phase 1.
The vast majority of our Sunday training sessions will be at MSAC. There are some weekends when MSAC is not available and alternative venues are sourced if available.
Mid-week training is not at MSAC. It is usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Some of the venues the club uses include Albert Park College, Port Melbourne Secondary College, North Melbourne Rec Centre (North Melbourne), Elsternwick Primary School (Brighton), Sacre Coeur (Glen Iris).
Venue location is determined using a number of factors including the availability of the coach to make a time or location
Players who miss training sessions without legitimate reasons may have restricted court time at the next game. We also encourage athletes who are injured to continue to attend Sunday trainings at MSAC to ensure they keep up the plans, plays and strategies that coaches continue to introduce to the team.
The Club is not against athletes concurrently competing in other sports but knows how difficult it is to juggle time commitments. We expect a Tiger athlete to always preference representative basketball over other sports they may be involved with. If this is not clearly demonstrated, court time in games will most likely be reduced.
The commitment to play Representative Basketball is a large one and a place in any Tigers’ team is highly valued. The club expect players to play every game, but does understand that illness, injury or critical school or family commitments may sometimes prohibit this.
We know that some schools run residential camps during terms that take their students to regional Victoria or even overseas.
The Club needs to know of these commitments at the earliest opportunity. So, if you know that your daughter will be unavailable for two weeks or more during any school term in the coming year, please advise the Tryout team administrators ASAP.
The Melbourne Tigers Girls Junior club has compulsory participation in 3 tournaments throughout the season that form an integral part of the program.
• Southern Peninsula Tournament – November
• Eltham/Dandenong – Australia Day weekend, January
• Nunawading – Queen’s Birthday weekend, June
These are mandatory events for team bonding and accelerating development.
If Melbourne Tigers Victorian Championship (VC) teams qualify for the Junior Classic on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June it is expected that teams will compete at that prestigious event.
Other tournaments on the Queen’s Birthday weekend include Ballarat. These and any other tournaments during the season are at the discretion of the individual team (noting that each team will liaise with the Director of Coaching to ensure a reasonable and not excessive calendar of events during the year in relation to age and development status).
However, it should be noted that no Tigers player will be disadvantaged in any way in respect to their regular league participation should they be unavailable to attend any of these other tournaments.
For first teams, to enable preparation for Victorian Championships and National tournaments, teams may travel interstate e.g. Adelaide or Canberra at Easter.
For the U14 age group, the first team (U14.1) may qualify for the Under 14 Australian Club Championships, which is held during the September school holidays and the host venue is rotated throughout the states.
The is the highest club representation in Australian Basketball and qualification is by a select few. Teams qualify be being seeded 1 & 2 in their respective pools at the end of round 9. Tournament costs are additional and may be approximately $3,000 – $5,000 depending on location of tournament. Fundraising is essential for teams selected in U14 Australian Championships.
If you have more questions after reading this:
juniortigers@mcba.net.au