United front for WNBL’S new club

Geelong United is officially a WNBL team.

After the Melbourne Boomers confirmed the official transfer of the licence to Geelong on Thursday night, the national competition’s newest club was officially welcomed on Friday.

The move will see United have a complete pathway from junior representative basketball in the Victoria Junior Basketball League to the national stage. Currently, the club has men’s and women’s teams entered in the NBL1 South competition.

“This is a great day for the WNBL, we have been working with Geelong United Basketball for some time and we are delighted to be able to announce their inclusion in the league,” head of the WNBL Christy Collier-hill said.

“Season 2024-25 is going to be so exciting for the fans and we know that Geelong will really get behind their team. There has never been a better time for women’s sport with more fans than ever before.”

Geelong United Basketball chief executive Mark Neeld said he was excited by the potential growth in the women’s game on the back of the announcement.

“The profile of women’s sport is on a dramatic rise, and locally we’ve seen so many of these women doing great things, particularly in basketball with the NBL1,” Neeld said.

“We of course see the growth in basketball first-hand and want to reward our hardworking female athletes with another amazing opportunity to play sport at the highest level right here in their own backyard.”

Three-time Olympian and WNBL Hall of Fame member Trish Fallon expressed her excitement. “I grew up in Geelong and went through the local pathways that took me all the way to the Olympics,” she said.

“Having a WNBL team will give girls of all ages the opportunity to aspire to playing at the elite level.”