Give an example, spill the beans otherwise this is an age old topic that has been covered a millions of times...

Warrandyte continue to loose players to Bulleen. It really doesn't help that we all play each other on Saturdays.

Yep always going to happen, just about nothing you can do about it either.

Melbourne Tigers are the ultimate poachers selling false hope to other club's juniors

The smaller the club the bigger the egos of those who run them.

In my experience smaller clubs are incestuous and if your not in good with the people in charge forget about any development (not that they have much in the way of development).

As for the warrandyte guy comment. It business 101.

An association needs to have at least 4 court (in their main stadium) in order to get large enough economies of scale.

I cannot hide my hatred for little clubs run by tyrants

Whilst I know this is a 'basketball' website I thought that it was mainly an SA site given the person that created it. Most people in SA basketball don't really care about a thread such as this when it is really directed to Victorian clubs/players. In future maybe it would be appropriate to signify which state is being referred to in the topic. In that way readers can avoid topics in which they are not interested.

anon dont be so hard - that is why it was changed from hoops sa to just hoops.

national posters are welocme.

good thread as we had a coach from a div 4 team attempt to poach our div 4 players game day in uniform - anyway all the families did was go and tell our coach and nobody is transferring....

I agree with Melbourne Boy! Tigers are one of the worst poaching clubs and they promise you the world until they poach someone better.

welcome to the world

Anon12, the way I look at this is that it's either a name-and-shame gossip thread, in which case the posters would be best to take it up with those in question. Or it's a general topic that, regardless of individual mentions, can apply to everyone. e.g., is everyone fair game? Is it just part of the game? And so on. I'd rather encourage the latter because the fewer names, the fewer complaints I get.

As . says, welcome to the world. I'd like to think that some level of offer by clubs encourages competition and improvement (don't want players to leave? Make your club a better place to play), and parents are generally responsible enough to ask around and recognise false promises. Yes, customers will leave for one reason or another (and even when you feel like you've done a good job) but that's how it is.

Edit: I can appreciate that losing developed players is frustrating. Same goes with clients. So be it.

at the time of promise - it may be a viable option.
but if the result is several years down the track things may change.
once you start talking college etc - it is a lot of work - and yes the benefits are great to right person.

a lot of dynamics come into play - if you really want college and reach a dead end go beyond that dead end. There are plenty of options - just do your homework.

when we employee people at my work - some intakes are strong and others not so....

Interesting topic, yes probably been done before I'd imagine and at the risk of covering old territory I will try to give the original poster what I know...

Before I do, just a quick response to the anon who believes this is a S.A. exclusive forum where other users need to announce themsleves beforehand, 'now that you have been awoken, welcome to the real ....... world mate'!

Okay, back on track. I have been in both situations, having left a smaller or less successful club for one which is considered larger and more successful.

Also I have been and still am involved in both a smaller club which occasionally loses players to larger clubs and one of the largest in our town.

A few pointers I have learnt along the way:

1. Every club is individual, the people who run the club are key; It's culture and outside perception is about those who are involved, not the size of the club.

2. The harder you try to hold on to a player the tighter the squeeze, therfore the more pressur and the end result is cracks start to appear and before long you lose control and lose respect.

3. Kids with talent will sort themselves out, no matter where they go, but they will seek something better if their original club can't provide it, fair enough too, as they will not grow if they are the big fish in a small pond. Tough, but fact!

4. Kids with less talent, however seeking glory with stronger teams/clubs, end up no better off and no happier so you will find they will complain no matter where they go. Also a fact...

5. Have an open door policy, let everyone decide for themselves. If integrity is the issue, look at your club from top to bottom and ask yourself 'what is it that makes our club attractive/unattractive'.

6. Honesty and the right people involved will always win out and remember that new kids will always come along to play hoops so if your club is a good one (big or small), it doesn't matter if another club poaches because people change for reasons, you just have to work out why!

Last thing, why is your club there? Ask yourself that question first of all then check your club's mission statement and read it, might open your eyes a bit, cheers... :]

Warrandyte are hypocrites. How many girls have you poached from Blackburn. I'm sure Justin can tell you.

Like Isaac said, don't want the players to leave then make sure they have a reason to stay.
The big clubs are ran with as many egos as the smaller clubs, and have just the same bullshit politics being played.
Club loyalty is something for 20 years ago when there probably was some loyalty from clubs to players, but it seems the only loyalty these days is that of the people in power to themselves and their mates.
End of the day it's not poaching if the kid leaves to pursue something better for themselves. It's not just big clubs who do it either, the small clubs do it just as much but just doesn't work for them usually as well as the bigger clubs.

The SA vs everyone issue is not something I'm oblivious too. Though I've been saying it for probably three years, I do hope in the future Hoops will have better categorisation than just Juniors, Local and ABL when it comes to those facets of basketball in Australia. e.g., individual categories for SEABL, QBL, juniors per state, etc.