Getting more women on court playing basketball is the primary goal for the 2009 Women’s Basketball Championship (WBC).

The competition, a combined effort between Basketball New Zealand and associations and clubs, will feature nine teams competing for the title at three three-day tournaments, starting with the North Harbour Tournament at AUT and the Breakers Gym from June 18-20.

Further tournaments will be played at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin, July 23-25, and Southwest Stadium in Wellington, August 20-22.

Squads from the Harbour Breeze, NZ Academy, GABBA (Greater Auckland Basketball Association) Gators, Waikato Wizards, Waikato Cougars, Taranaki Trojans, Wellington Swish, Canterbury Wildcats and Otago Gold Rush will contest the inaugural WBC.

“I guess the entire focus is to allow women to have a premier competition on a national level,” said Brett Goebel, WBC organiser and Harbour Breeze head coach.

“It’s about getting as many women as possible playing basketball again … no-one can afford to have a true home-and-away national league because it’s too expensive but this can give us something to play for.”

In addition, an invitation team will play at each tournament to make an even-numbered draw, starting with Tai Tokerau in North Harbour. Southland will also contest the Dunedin leg and Hutt Valley will compete at the final tournament in Wellington. The GABBA Gators and Waikato Cougars will not contest the second tournament in Dunedin.

“We’re not too worried about having three invitation teams involved, one at each tournament, because it means that there’s 30 extra players getting exposure to this competition.

“There’s a real disconnect between the age groups and schools, and the Tall Ferns at the moment. This is hopefully a real stepping-stone towards that.”

Teams will be split into five-team sections at the North Harbour and Dunedin tournaments, playing pool play and playoffs, gaining championship points depending on their final placings.

Based on the points from the first two tournaments, teams will be split into the Championship section and Plate section in Wellington. The top-five will compete for the title, while the next-five will compete for a place in the plate final.

The WBC replaces the conference-based Women’s Basketball League (WBL), which was not contested in 2008 due to lack of entries.

WBC rosters are currently being finalised but teams will be allowed two roster spots open for imports or restricted players, while players will remain eligible to play for their associations in BBNZ’s Open premierships and nationals.

Tall Ferns forward Charmian Purcell will lead the Harbour Breeze, who won the last national women’s title in 2007, while former Tall Ferns captain Leanne Walker will play for the Waikato Wizards.