By Russell Bennett
AS the inaugural season of the South East Super League draws to a thrilling crescendo this weekend, the future of the competition looks bright for seasons to come.
The concept of the basketball league was the brainchild of Simo Pajdic and Tristan Blacka from the Pakenham Warriors and it involved a draft, player signings and trades to fill out the rosters of the six inaugural teams – the Pakenham Pirates, Beaconsfield Mustangs, Berwick Sharks, Cardinia Crocs, Lakeside Vikings and Officer Hornets.
Pajdic and Blacka served as general managers of the Hornets and Vikings respectively in season one, while the Sharks and Mustangs will fight it out for the title this Sunday from 2pm at the Officer Hub.
The competition was set up, in part, to fill the gap in the Big V representative off-season and a number of players on the six rosters either play for the Warriors’ men’s side or the Youth Men’s, which Pajdic coaches.
But a wide range of other Big V clubs are also represented, including Western Port, Mornington, Dandenong, Sherbrooke, Keysborough and Melbourne.
The SESL – backed by invaluable support from major sponsor Ash Mason from Stockdale and Leggo in Pakenham – is affiliated with the Pakenham and District Basketball Association (PDBA) and that relationship will only continue to strengthen into the future.
The Sharks – including the likes of Lee Belton, Dylan Larkin and Cody Fredrickson – will take on Tyrone Tonkin, Calvin Enge, Aaron Miles, Dylan Jenkinson, Tyler Hogg and their Mustangs team mates this weekend.
“It’s been a really good 10 weeks – the guys have done really well,” Blacka said.
“We’ve had quite a few people come down to watch.
“At the start it was very much like a Big V game – man-to-man defense from start to finish – and then it kind of plateaued out a little bit as the guys got a bit flat but as they realised it was only a short 10-week competition those positions on the ladder started to become very close and it really picked up.”
Blacka said the few teething issues the league experienced in season one will be ironed out for season two, and the plan is now to develop and grow the SESL.
For more information visit www.seslbasketball.com or search for ‘South East Super League’ on Facebook.
