Wikipedia - NBL1 North
NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to bring NBL1 to Queensland. NBL1 replaced the former QBL to create more professional pathways and opportunities for males and females playing basketball in Queensland. As a result, the QBL became the north conference of NBL1. In 2022, the league expanded into the Northern Territory with the addition of a club from Darwin.
History
The league was formed in 1986 as the Queensland State Basketball League. In 1994, the league joined the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) to become the competition's North conference. The CBA was restructured as the Australian Basketball Association (ABA) in 1999.
In 2002, the league became known as the Queensland Australian Basketball League (QABL). Around this time, the QABL set up a division system to separate the north and south teams within the state: the Sunstate (North Queensland) and Southern Cross (South Queensland) divisions. Following the 2006 season, the QABL restructured the competition, which saw the two divisions combining to have a statewide league of only one division for the 2007 season. The ABA was abandoned following the 2008 season, resulting in the QBL becoming an independent league again.
In October 2019, Basketball Queensland and the National Basketball League (NBL) announced a new partnership to bring NBL1 to Queensland in 2020, with NBL1 replacing the QBL. On 15 January 2020, the QBL was officially renamed NBL1 North and became the north conference of NBL1. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was cancelled.
For the 2022 season, the NBL1 North had a club from Darwin – the Darwin Salties – represented for the first time under the joint management of Darwin Basketball Association (DBA) and Basketball Northern Territory (BNT). It saw the NBL1 become the first Australian sport league to have clubs based in and playing out of every state and territory in Australia.