Tryouts
Unleash Your Potential
Dive into the excitement of upcoming tryouts. Join us on the court and let your Melbourne Tigers basketball journey begin!
Each year at the end of the VJBL Championship/finals season, positions in all of the Melbourne Tigers Junior teams are declared open. To secure a playing position in one of our teams, all athletes interested have to attend our annual Tryouts.
2024/25 tryout registration has now CLOSED.
This registration is for players who are trying out for the 2024/25 VJBL season in the U12-18 age groups.
A player must be under the age of their age group as of 31/12/2025 to be eligible to play in that age group.
Players that have never played VJBL before (U14-18 age groups) can only participate in these tryouts upon invitation from MCBA following participation in the New to Rep session on Sunday 15 September
Players are expected to attend all tryout dates.
Tryout cost: $60 per participant
2024/25 tryout dates:
Friday October 4 – Session 1 – BOYS ONLY
Sunday October 6 – Session 2 – BOYS AND GIRLS
Friday October 11 – Session 3 – BOYS AND GIRLS
Sunday October 13 – Session 4 – BOYS AND GIRLS
Friday October 18 – Session 5 – BOYS AND GIRLS
Sunday October 20 – Session 6 – BOYS AND GIRLS
U14: 6:30pm-8:15pm
This registration is for players who are trying out for the 2024/25 VJBL season in the U20 age group.
A player must be under the age of their age group as of 31/12/2025 to be eligible to play in that age group.
Players are expected to attend all tryout dates.
2024/25 tryout dates:
Sunday November 10 – Session 1
Thursday November 14 – Session 2
Sunday November 24 – Session 3
Sundays
Boys 8am-10am
Girls 10am-11:30am
Thursday
Boys 6-7:30pm
Girls 7:30-9pm
The Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) incorporates competitions conducted state-wide and provides the highest level of junior competition in Victoria. The VJBL boasts 1,543 representative teams from 54 associations across Victoria, with over 13,000 participants competing in more than 80 venues every Friday night throughout the season.
The competition includes U12 to U20 age groups, in a graded structure from Victorian Junior Championship League to Regional Competition. The Melbourne Central Basketball Association (MCBA) is one of the 54 associations competing in the VJBL, and our representative teams are the Melbourne Tigers.
The VJBL is a performance-based competition for representative players of each association/club. The selection of players for each team is determined through a tryout process. At the Melbourne Tigers, you must be selected to represent the club in the VJBL. Tryouts are held each year, usually in October, and athletes must undertake the tryout process to be selected for a team.
Players under 20 years of age are eligible to play for the Melbourne Tigers and in the VJBL.
Registrations for the 2024-2025 season will be announced on our website, our Melbourne Tigers App, and via our social media channels.
Tryouts are the selection process for securing a position on one of the representative teams. Tryouts normally commence on the last Friday for the boys and last Sunday for the girls of the September school holidays. The specific details and dates will be confirmed on our website and social media channels; however, it is important to note the likely timing. There are normally 5-6 tryout sessions. The Melbourne Tigers work hard to select the best possible teams to compete at the highest levels!
The Melbourne Tigers aim to enter up to 10 teams in the U12, U14, and U16 age groups, up to 8 teams in the U18 age group, and up to 3 teams in U20s. Team numbers are dependent on having the right resources available to support the best possible teams.
The VJBL birthday cutoff is the 31st of December each year. A player must be under the age group to play. For example, a child cannot play U12 if they turn 12 in the year of competition. Similarly, a child who turns 16 before the 31st of December will play in U18s. The club simplifies this by nominating birth years for age groups.
To attend tryouts, players must pre-register via the formal registration process before tryouts commence. There is a fee to cover the court costs for tryouts, the details of which will be confirmed.
If your player is new to representative basketball, a specific registration will be required, as well as participation in a Pre-Tryout session/s to assess their suitability for this level of competition. The details of this session/s will be provided to you, post-registration, and are likely to occur in mid to late September. If you have not played representative basketball before and miss the Pre-Tryout Registration and Sessions, you will not be permitted to register or attend the team tryouts.
For all returning players and those new players who qualify from the Pre-Tryout sessions, once registered online, your player will receive confirmation and details of the designated tryout session for their age group.
All players will be required to ‘check in’ at the tryout desk before the first session. Please ensure your player arrives at least 20 minutes before the start time of the session. Your player will be allocated a number to assist the coaches in identifying athletes during the tryouts. Instructions on how to apply the identification number at home before arrival at the stadium will be provided. If players are unable to apply or have forgotten to apply the pre-allocated identification number, there will be Melbourne Tigers volunteers available to assist.
We encourage everyone to pre-register EARLY! Once the quota of registered players has been reached or the first tryout session commences, the registration system will close. No walk-ups are allowed on tryout days and sessions. Athletes are reminded that this registration does NOT commit you to the club but simply registers players for tryouts.
There is an expectation that all tryouts are attended. However, from time to time, pre-existing commitments may already be in place. You are required to advise at the online registration process of any known absences. If unforeseen events occur during the tryout period, please email: [email protected]. Please note that non-attendance at tryout sessions may affect selection.
Players from other representative clubs are always welcome to the Melbourne 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 on 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 of 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.
The selection process will involve input from the Melbourne Tigers coaches who are overseeing the tryouts for each age group, managed by the Head of Coaching and Directors of Coaching. It is important to note that past team selections and playing grades are not an automatic indication of future team selection.
Athletes will be assessed against the following selection criteria:
Please remember that while the club strives to provide the most transparent and objective process it can, subjectivity is an inherent part of all team selections.
Athletes will warm up as a group and will then be assessed through 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 scrimmages, 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.
Parents are not permitted to approach or engage with coaches during tryout sessions. There will be Melbourne Tigers executives and volunteers helping coordinate the tryouts, and they will be happy to answer most questions.
We understand that parents are often worried about the outcomes of the tryouts. However, coaches and athletes need to be provided space to focus all their energies on the actual tryout process and for the club to properly evaluate every athlete and make informed assessments.
Following the conclusion of the last tryout, athletes who have been selected for a team will be sent a formal offer via email. This email will confirm which team each player has been selected for, and parents are required to either accept or decline the offer within a reasonably short time frame.
Please remember that the process to select players for teams will be carefully considered, and selections are made in the best interests of the club and the players. Some disappointments are inevitable once the 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 request in writing via email, feedback on your player’s selection.
Most teams will have 10 players, but these selections are not permanent until after the first round of grading (in mid-December). This is to allow for long-term injuries and the unlikely event of a player withdrawing or being unable to sustain performance on the selected team.
Each team trains twice per week (minimum) – on Sunday at MSAC followed by a midweek session, typically on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening. These mid-week sessions are usually at a range of stadiums that include but are not limited to Albert Park College, Port Melbourne Secondary College, South Melbourne Primary School, Caulfield Grammar, Oakleigh Grammar, Elsternwick Primary School (Brighton), Prahan High School, South Melbourne Primary School, Wesley College, Maribynong Secondary College and Sacre Coeur (Glen Iris). Actual session times and venues will be organized by the Directors of Coaching and the Club Administration Manager.
Players who miss training sessions, without legitimate reasons, may consequently have their court time restricted. We encourage injured athletes to continue to attend training and ensure they keep up with the plans, plays, and strategies that coaches introduce to the team.
The Club does not oppose athletes concurrently competing in other sports but knows how difficult it is to juggle time commitments. We expect a Melbourne Tigers athlete to always prioritize representative basketball over other sports they may participate in. If this is not clearly demonstrated, court time in games will most likely be reduced, and team selections may be affected.
Games are played on Friday evenings and generally alternate between our home court at MSAC and away venues. There may be extensive travel required on Friday evenings to away stadiums.
The younger age groups tend to have games scheduled earlier (6:30pm – 8:50pm), while U16-U20 game times are more likely to be scheduled in the later time slots (8:30pm – 10:40pm).
While the VJBL tries to limit travel distances for all teams, it is not unusual for games on Friday evenings to be held at venues as diverse as Frankston, Dandenong, Knox, Nunawading, Lilydale, Diamond Valley, Darebin, Sunbury, Werribee, Geelong, or even Ballarat and Latrobe Valley. Fill up your petrol tank and look forward to the opportunity for long conversations with your player!
The commitment to play representative basketball is significant, and a place in any Tigers’ team is highly valued. The Club expects players to be available for every game but does understand that illness, injury, or critical school or family commitments may sometimes prohibit this.
We acknowledge that some Victorian schools run camps during the basketball season, which can impact player attendance at training and games. The coach and team manager must be informed of these commitments at the earliest opportunity.
Representative basketball is different from domestic basketball, where even court time is often the aim. Accordingly, equal court time for all representative players is not guaranteed. Rather, players earn their court time by their attitude, progress, attendance at training, and potential to contribute to the overall team’s success. It is important to remember that 95% of the time, players will not have the ball to score. Instead, they will have a role to execute on the court, or they will be on the bench. Their performance without the ball is as important as their scoring opportunities. All of this is considered by coaches when rotating players on and off the court. Coach feedback on court time and areas for improvement can be sought via the Team Manager.
The Melbourne Tigers requires compulsory participation in two tournaments throughout the season that form an integral part of the program.
Participation in other tournaments during the season is at the discretion of the coach and team. However, approval of the respective Director of Coaching is required to ensure that these additional commitments are not unreasonable or excessive given the age and development status of the team. Melbourne Tigers’ players will not be disadvantaged in respect to their regular league participation should they be unavailable to attend any of these additional tournaments.
For the U14 & U18 age group, the first team (U14.1/U18.1) may qualify for the Under 14 or Under 18 Australian Club Championships, which are held during the September school holidays. The host venue is rotated throughout the Australian states. Tournament costs are additional and may be approximately $3,000 – $5,000 depending on the location of the tournament. Fundraising is essential for teams selected in U14 & U18 Australian Championships.
Annual Membership Fees
The fees for 2024-25 are $1,050 per player. These are subject to change and will be advised prior to tryouts. The fees are paid via PlayHQ with an option for 4 instalments if paid via PayPal.
Registration Fees cover:
• Midweek & Sunday training court hire
• VJBL team registrations
• Preseason team sheet fees
• End of Season Presentation Day
• Coaching development
• Association Administration
• First Aid Equipment
Please note that Associations fees vary across Victoria, the main component of fees is made up in court hire for trainings and Melbourne Tigers value training time considerably for our players to get the most out of the season and therefore offer an increase in training hours compared to some other Associations.
Team Kitty
For venue scoresheet, approx. $600 per player per season.
Tournament Fees
Most teams enter one or two tournaments. Entry varies from tournament to tournament but can be $400 per team. Additional costs are incurred should the tournament require travel interstate.
Uniform
Usually $150- $250 for the initial kit with extra items available for purchase but not compulsory.
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.
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 physical, behavioural, developmental, and sensory disabilities. Experience has shown that successfully providing tailored assistance is best delivered with open communication so that adjustments can be sought or provided to accommodate such needs.
Parents are encouraged to provide the club with any information that can support your player in a timely way. Confidentiality is assured.
For more information or specific inquiries not answered in the FAQ above, our dedicated staff are here to assist you. Reach out through the links below, and we’ll ensure you get the details you need promptly.
Before you contact regarding tryouts, please ensure you have read all available information on this page.