Registrations for the upcoming Summer 24/25 Season are now open until 5:00pm Monday 2nd September 2024. Please note: we cannot guarantee your child/ren a spot in a team for any late registrations. ​ Click here to register for Summer 24/25: PlayHQ

If your child is already playing at another club within the Knox Basketball competition, and you are looking to transfer your child to the Falcons Family, please continue reading: STEP 1: Begin completing the player registration form here as far as you can. Your existing club will then be sent an automated email to approve or decline your child's clearance. STEP 2: Notify clubs! It is good etiquette to notify the Club Secretary of your existing club that you will be leaving. You also need to email our New Player Registrar at getonboard@ftgfalcons.com.au to advise of your intention to transfer across with your child's name, date of birth, current club, team & grade (e.g. FTG Falcons Girls 12.2 BR Grade). Please also include any Representative Basketball Club and team details (e.g. Knox Raiders Boys 12.3 VJBL2). STEP 3: Once your existing club has released your child, Knox Basketball will then assess the transfer request and make a determination on whether or not to approve the request. If your child is considered a Domestic or Rep Restricted Player (see below), there are special rules that have to be considered to allow the transfer. STEP 4: If this is approved, our New Player Registrar will then receive a notification to give final approval to accept the transfer across, again depending on decisions around vacancies and restricted player management. STEP 5: If all parties have approved the transfer across, you will receive an email notification from PlayHQ advising you that you can now complete the player registration process. *RESTRICTED PLAYERS* Knox Basketball JUNIOR DOMESTIC COMPETITION Rules & Regulations: https://lightcomet-assets-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/jbs/ba4ca310-195d-4908-948f-4c156d07e706.pdf 3.3 Clearances (a) Any player wishing to change Clubs within the Competition must apply for a clearance, no matter when they last played. No clearances will be approved after round one of a season. Players must advise the Registrar of a pending clearance and it must be lodged by 11.59pm of the completion of the current Junior Domestic Grand Finals season (Sunday night). Where a player requests a clearance after this cut-off, and both the source Club and destination Club are agreeable, a clearance can be approved up until 11.59pm the Friday before Round 1. Players who have not played for the previous 2 seasons can be cleared at any time of the season. (b) Clubs are only allowed one clearance per age group per season in each of the girls and boys competitions, for any KBI domestic player who is defined as a restricted player: (i) player who is an “A” or “AR” player during the previous 6 months or (ii) a representative player within the current calendar year. A representative player will not be cleared to a Club which already has three or more representative players of the same (domestic) natural age group and gender, as themselves. A restricted Representative Player plays in [U12’s - VC, VJL 1 & 2] and [U14’s and above - VC, VJL 1, 2 & 3] To reduce the number of restricted players rep players per age group a Club can elect to de-register a player if they are no longer playing at their Club. Note: Should that player elect to play again they will require a clearance to which ever Club they choose to play with, including their original Club. (c) A restricted player must play in the age group (that being their natural age group or older). (d) Where a restricted player is cleared to an age group above their natural age group, the receiving Club relinquishes its right to accept a clearance into the player's natural age group, as well as the age group into which the player has been cleared. (e) A cleared restricted player can play as a “fill in” player in an eligible age group for a maximum of two (2) games in the season in which they were cleared. Should they exceed two (2) games, they will be deemed to be an ineligible player and the games will be forfeited and all premiership points will be lost for those games. (f) Any player who is the subject of a clearance request, cannot play with the receiving Club until the clearance is approved. Any player who does so will be classed as an "Ineligible Player" and the appropriate penalties will be applied. (g) No clearance will be approved where the player has been approached, coerced and/or persuaded in any way, by any official or representative of KBI or any member Club. Where it is proved that this has occurred, the offending Club will not be allowed any “A”, “AR” or Representative player clearances for two full seasons and the offending official/s or representative/s will not be allowed to hold any official position for the same period. (h) The Committee may override any existing rule and approve a clearance where it feels exceptional circumstances apply. (i) To ensure that a clearance has been formally requested by the player Clubs will need to submit a form signed by the player if over 18 or by the parents if under 18 before the registrar will approve an online clearance.

There are four main costs involved: Club Season Fees, Basketball Victoria Membership, Basketball Australia Levy and getting set up with a playing uniform. The below fees are all paid at the time of player registration on PlayHQ. SEASON FEES: Our clubs fees are paid at the time of online registration through PlayHQ and cover the cost of weekly games, venue hire for weekly training, coaching equipment and training, as well as end of season trophies. We try to keep our fees as low as possible and are a not for profit organisation, run by volunteers. $230 – Under 8's- Under 16's $170 – Under 19's - Under 23's (no training costs) BASKETBALL VICTORIA MEMBERSHIP: Basketball Victoria charges the following fees to help cover the costs of managing the sport, which includes the providing of services and insurance to participants, clubs and associations. These fees are built into PlayHQ online registration forms and are inclusive of GST. Basketball Victoria Annual Participant Licence for players (per 365-days) This is a statewide participation licence that applies to domestic, tournament* and junior representative player registrations and is charged when the player doesn't already have a licence that covers them for the entirety of the season they're registering to. $29 – Junior (17 and under) playing participant $43 – Senior (18 and over) playing participant BASKETBALL AUSTRALIA GAME DEVELOPMENT LEVY: Players are charged $5.50 for a new membership/365-day membership extension if they don't already have a membership that covers them for the e ntirety of the season they are registering to. The Game Development Levy is being implemented by Basketball Australia to support the growth and development of basketball at all levels of the game and to enhance opportunities for the sport. More information can be found at: https://www.australia.basketball/news/3739877/game-development-levy UNIFORMS: Uniforms can be ordered online at the time of registration, via our online store or via appointment at the Uniform Shop (see FAQ on Uniforms for more information) $45 – for a playing singlet $45 - for playing shorts *Under 8’s are provided a loaner uniform for their first season with a refundable $90 deposit.

ORDERING UNIFORM: Please make an appointment for you and your child to attend at our Uniform Shop. Click here to book: https://www.ftgfalcons.com.au/book-online PLAYING NUMBERS: Each player is assigned their own club number according to their age group. We do not take requests. IMPORTANT: Players are not to wear any number other than their allocated club number without prior consent from the Uniform Coordinators. COLLECTION OF UNIFORM: Once ordered, uniforms take approximately 2-3 weeks to arrive, however uniforms can take longer during busy periods. We recommend ordering early as we only have limited loan uniforms available. When your uniform is ready for collection, you will be contacted by our Uniform Coordinator Natalie to advise it is ready to be picked up. FALCONS UNFORM SHOP: "The Falcons Nest" is open during the school term on Tuesday nights between 6:00-7:00pm, located at Carrington Park Leisure Centre, 20 O'connor Road, Knoxfield.

TEAM SELECTIONS Once registrations have closed, age group lists are given to each of the Age Group Coordinators and teams are carefully selected based on the following criteria: First teams in each gender/age group will generally be graded in A/A Reserve and are generally made up of the strongest players in the age group. Second and subsequent teams are placed also according to individual player strength and overall makeup and balance of teams. It is a delicate process, which our Coordinators spend a considerable amount of time speaking with previous Coaches and evaluating players at our Club Skills Sessions and throughout the season at games and trainings. Additional considerations include: player experience, skillset, team positional structure, player talent identification, commitment (attendance at games and training), reliability, player attitude (training and games), age and friendships. FRIENDSHIP REQUESTS Requests made during the registration process are taken into consideration and decisions are made from a wholistic perspective and in the best interests of all players. TEAM ANNOUNCEMENTS Teams are then submitted to the Executive Committee for final approval and then teams are released via Stack Team App. It is imperative that you have downloaded Stack Team App on your phone and that you have your notifications turned ON so that you can receive these important updates. Link to Team App below or you can download the brochure for step by step instructions. Once teams have been released, you will be contacted by your team's Coach and you will be informed of when and where your first training session or game will be. A Team Manager will then be allocated to the Team, who will set up a group chat for your team to stay in touch with each other. A scoring roster will then also be made and distributed to the team. At this stage, if you have any questions, concerns, comments or thoughts, please direct these to your Team Manager or Coach in the first instance. Issues can then be raised through to the relevant Age Group Coordinator to be addressed if needed. For more information please follow the below links:

Basketball is a year round sport, with two seasons a year – summer and winter. Each season consists of a number of “rounds”, with each team playing one game per round. Rounds are generally played during school terms, with U8’s – U16’s games played on Saturday and U19’s and U23’s on Sunday. SUMMER SEASON Summer season normally starts in early October, with the grading rounds played prior to the summer school holidays. The competition rounds commence in late January/early February when school returns, with finals played in April. (In general, the Summer season aligns with Terms 4 and 1 for school terms) WINTER SEASON Winter season normally starts in mid-late April, with the grading and competition rounds played until mid-late August. Finals are usually played in September. (In general, the Winter season aligns with Terms 2 and 3 of school terms) COMPETITION ROUNDS Depending on the season, and where school and public holidays fall, there are normally 17 competition rounds in a season inclusive of the grading rounds. FINALS Teams that finish in the top 4 ladder positions at the end of the competition rounds qualify to play finals. For teams that don’t qualify for finals the season ends at the last competition round. Finals run over 3 rounds; 1 round of semi-finals, followed by preliminary finals and then the Grand Final. SEMI FINALS Semi Finals are played: 1st v’s 2nd team on season ladder 3rd v’s 4th team on season ladder Winning Team from 1st v’s 2nd goes into the Grand Final Losing Team from 1st v’s 2nd plays the Preliminary FinalWinning Team from 3rd v’s 4th plays the Preliminary Final Losing team from 3rd v’s 4th is eliminated. PRELIMINARY FINALS Winning team advances to the Grand Final Losing team eliminated. Teams that win grand final games are awarded with a Premiers Pennant, with the runner-up team receiving a Runners-up Pennant. ​ UNDER 8's ENCOURAGEMENT DAY Under 8’s team do not participate in finals; they play an additional round during the first week of finals as well as an “Encouragement Day” round during the second week of finals. All U8’s teams that play the Encouragement Day round receive a participation award (from Knox Basketball) regardless of the result of their match.

PlayHQ PlayHQ website and App (iPhone and Android) have fixtures available. To look up your child's team, search "Ferntree Gully Falcons", then click on the relevant season, then choose your child's team. Here is the website link: https://www.playhq.com/basketball-victoria/org/ferntree-gully-falcons-basketball-club/54f53d90 Stack Team App Fixtures, News, Events, Club Documents, Sponsors, and Chat groups are all contained within Stack Team App. It is highly recommended that all families download this App on your phone (iPhone and Android) and ensure that notifications turned ON so that you can receive these important updates and club communications. Click on the below link to Team App or open the brochure below for step by step instructions.

BALL SIZES Basketballs used in the Knox Basketball Competition are as follows: Boys Under 8 - Under 12 - Size 5 Under 14 - Size 6 Under 16 - Under 23 - Size 7 Girls Under 8 - Under 12 - Size 5 Under 14 – Under 23 - Size 6 Please ensure that your child brings their own ball to training and is the correct size according to their age group. It greatly impacts their ability to learn fundamental skills.

TRAINING TIMES Each under 8's-16's teams train once a week for 1 hour between Mon-Thurs 4pm-9pm. These times do not get finalised until closer to the start of each new season and we work around multiple factors and preferences to try and accomodate Coaching availabilities first. If you have any specific requests, you can include these in your child's registration form. MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TRAINING TRAINING VENUES Carrington Park Leisure Centre, 20 O'connor Road, Knoxfield https://maps.app.goo.gl/eqYKVqiHDoxYKQXM9 Kent Park Primary School, 17 Greenaway Drive, Ferntree Gully https://maps.app.goo.gl/sUhWG2q7xa4pU9sd7 Scoresby Secondary College, 20 Cavell Street, Scoresby https://maps.app.goo.gl/s74YUkugwvhpKdbg8

Knox Basketball competition uses two main venues: The State Basketball Centre - 291 George Street, Wantirna South https://maps.app.goo.gl/fjdBLzNwk9wCViS17 Knox Basketball Stadium - 7 Park Crescent, Boronia https://maps.app.goo.gl/6caeEXF3boCs6pwD6

Getting involved and volunteering is a great way to meet people, build community and give back to the basketball community. By utilising your skills, gifts and talents, you will see how rewarding it truly is! You can get involved by: ✔️ volunteering to become a Team Manager or Club Coach (please include your interest in your child's registration form on PlayHQ or email our Club Secretary Jess Brookens at secretary@ftgfalcons.com.au) ✔️ offering to help our Events Team at Club Event days by emailing our Events Team Leader Vanessa Roy at events@ftgfalcons.com.au ✔️ offering your services as a photographer/videographer, graphic designer, web design, printing, etc we would LOVE to hear from you! Please email our Club Secretary Jess Brookens at secretary@ftgfalcons.com.au ✔️nominating to become a Committee Member. Our AGM's are held around October each year and nomination forms are sent out when the AGM is announced. To find out more about the different committee role, please speak to or email our Club Secretary Jess Brookens at secretary@ftgfalcons.com.au All volunteers are required to provide a copy of their Working With Children Check or details of their exemption. These details are cross checked and our volunteer register is provided to Knox Basketball each season. If you do not yet have a WWCC, it is FREE for volunteers and you can apply for one here: https://www.vic.gov.au/working-with-children-check

Each game is played over 2 x 17 minute halves, with teams changing the direction of play at half-time. The Ferntree Gully Falcons play as part of the Junior Domestic competition, and all games are played under the Knox Basketball Junior Domestic Rules.