Casey and Frankston not on the Peninsula anyway.
The other 3 have plenty of their own troubles.
The new stadium talks have been around for years, and we're all still waiting.
If one of them can get it right, then they'll be in the box seat.

Arguments for Frankston could be made about being on the Peninsula, Casey agree but I threw that in as it is starting to make waves and is close enough to create headaches; didn't bother mentioning Chelsea as they are not in a position at this point and time to create issues.
Breakers seniors on the improve but juniors are a mess still with little or clear direction, may end up like Sherbrooke, juniors all playing mostly low divisions.
Frankston will always be Frankston no matter what they will always be OK as their domestic comp is strong. So Sth Pen doesn't have new courts in the near future? Heard on the grapevine a 2000 seated main court, perhaps that committee member had their head in the clouds and it was more of a vision than anything else. Shame as they looked like they had turned a corner 2-3yrs ago.
Casey I believe have started their new courts or are supposed to be starting, 4 in total and 1 being a main court (which they desperately needed), juniors are doing OK, girls side needs a lot of work though.
Steelers will always be the feeder club, their domestic comp not the greatest and this really hurts them unfortunately, spent way too much money on individuals and with it seems a lack of vision to how it will look in 5yrs or even 2yrs, it's more of a yr to yr thing.

A peninsula is a body of land with water on 3 sides. From Frankston you can head due east till you hit Sale. It's not on the Peninsula. But agree with you that they will always be the dominant force in the South East. Dropping their Youth Champ programs may hurt them though, as it's now SEABL or nothing in terms of pathway their, and very limited spots available.
Breakers seniors may be on the improve, but from all reports nearly didn't exist at all. Their juniors seem to go ok I thought, and are strong in numbers.
WP, again from other reports, may not have any senior teams at all, and although they have 30+ junior rep teams, only a small fraction of those are not playing regional.
SP, not sure why they'd need a 2,000 seat stadium, when they rarely sell out their current venue in Rosebud. I know they raised funds for court extensions at Dromana 5 or so years back, but think it lost momentum shortly after.Losing the Youth Men last year and now the Men's team has hurt their senior program, although they do punch above their weight in quality of Junior teams. Although just heard their U18 girls team withdrew?
I've said it on this forum before, I believe these 3 need to merge, pool all resources on the Peninsula, and make a single entity to provide for and represent all basketballers on the Mornington Peninsula.


Casey are the big bolter in my view. Have the largest growth area, an existing 6 court facility with plans to upgrade, and are starting to gain momentum. Most critical for them is whether the people in charge can take them from what they were to where they could be.

"A peninsula is a body of land with water on 3 sides. From Frankston you can head due east till you hit Sale. It's not on the Peninsula."

Given the peninsula doesn't run north-south the ability to travel east isn't really relevant. The geographical beginning of the peninsula runs through Frankston.

Ok mate.

No probs. Take a drive along Nepean Hwy, Frankston-Flinders Rd, Peninsula Link and Western Port Hwy, you'll be able to see where the geographical peninsula starts when you start climbing after the former swamps of Seaford and the plains around Cranbourne.

Peninsula begins in a S/W direction between pearcedale and Frankston. About Langwarrin south. Frankston isn't Soith west of Langwarrin South.
Also the governing body, the Shire of Mornington Peninsula occupies the entire peninsula and is generally considered to be a good approximation of where the peninsula joins the mainland.

As I said, go for a drive along those roads and you'll be able to identify the geographical feature very easily.

The local government area is irrelevant, there is no change in geography along the municipal border with Frankston or Casey, the borders are determined by roads not geography.

So you've determined where the Pennsula starts because of what you see out the car window.
And as I wrote, politically, Frankston isn't considered part of the peninsula either, with separate municipalities.

'Politically' is simply the municipal border.

The Mornington Peninsula Shire was created by the state government in 1994 after the merger of the shires of Flinders, Mornington and Hastings, with the addition of part of the old City of Frankston, it's not a measure of where the peninsula starts and ends.

But if you wish to think a boundary made up by bureaucrats in Spring St is the determination of where a significant geographically feature starts then good for you.

Correct Dwayne I heard the same thing that they had pulled the U18 girls. Shame as I thought that program was heading in the right direction, they may still be having some teething problems with their transition and only time will tell but they definitely bat above their weight.
Breakers lost some good junior coaches due to structure changes, not many Rep coaches wanted to be apart of the not taking outside players thing so they have taken a big hit there. Consider that they had 60+ coaching applications 2014/15 season to less than 32 for this season, they had to scrounge up coaches for teams (not unusual for any club but to have less than half the applications of last year is concerning). Have heard still no direction for coaches and in turn they do as they want with no structure, I haven't seen any club have long term success without structure or direction.
Steelers too focused on getting a senior men's Championship, crazy dollars being thrown in there.
Casey are supposed to start their 4 new courts in December 2015 (unsure if it has started). U14 Boys finished 5th at Nationals and the growth in the area may mean a force in years to come if they get it right, as you said it remains to be seen if the current people in charge can do that. The one thing I have heard in their favour is the junior coaching depth, courtesy of fallouts from Frankston, Dandenong and others.
Always thought with Sth Pen, Breakers and Steelers that there was either 1 or 2 too many teams on the Peninsula, perhaps a merge is best but I don't think those clubs would see it that way.

What is the population of the "Peninsula"?

for the sake of the question I would think this means Frankston and Mornington combined?

Sure thing Paul.

I don't believe the Casey courts have started. But could be wrong. Drove by the other day and didn't see any construction work. They do get a lot of ex Frankston and Dandenong players/coaches, and coupled with the huge growth in the area, it's the reason they are building so quickly. Like I said though, just needs to be managed right with such rapid growth.
And you're right, amalgamation would never happen, which is a shame.

HO, believe it's around the 150k mark full time residents, but balloons over the summer months with all the visitors. Thats Mornington peninsula shire population anyway, then add in Frankston City.

Interesting population comparison, if there is about 150,000 on the Mornington with more than 5 Associations (or about five), that makes it a very competative market for players.

Compared say to the Geelong and Bellarine where the population is more than double and there are only 3 major Associations...

Bear, believe Frankston city have around 130k. So combined, around 280k full time residents,

That sounds closer to the figure I would expect, cheers...

It's hard to see which merge would work. It's very different demographically from Mornington to Western Port, and reasonable distance from Southern Pen to both.

I suspect a Mornington/Sth Pen merger with domestic competitions played in both regions might be best, with even the younger rep teams still being split along those lines?

Don't forget Chelsea is a stones throw from Frankston; Chelsea, Casey, Frankston, Breakers, Steelers and Sth Pen all within 40min of each other.
Somerville, Breakers and Sth Pen all with 30min of each other. Neither one of these have big thriving domestic programs; you could add all 3 up and they wouldn't rival the 750+ domestic teams at Frankston or they may come close to the 600+ at Casey.
Someone, one of these clubs needs to stand up and take the area by the scruff of the neck and lead the way like Frankston did back many years ago; reality unless Sth Pen, Breakers and Steelers merge it won't be one of them; Frankston and Casey are the only ones with numbers to be able to currently do it. Be nice to have both, we don't have too many dominating clubs this side of town like they do in the West or North.

Theoretically I suppose a merger of all three could work, with domestic and lower age rep based at the three different mini-regions, then coming together at higher age rep and Big V.

I think it would take someone with power to cut through the politics and personalities and make that happen though. It would certainly have the potential to be a very strong club.

Someone with power to sort out politics? Why don't you just come out and say that you think only a man could do the job, paul.

And "domestic and lower age" grouped together? Hmm, so you're basically saying women and children are the same in your pecking order.

The problem is to house a super club of the 3 it would need it's own independent location. Rosebud (2 courts), Mornington (3 courts) and Somerville (2 courts), would all be too small to house a combined rep and senior rep program of the combined 3 I think.
Unfortunately I don't see much funding available for a new stadium in a central location on the peninsula to help any new entity.
You're right about the powerful personalities that would have to be overcome to make it work, which I think is sad considering it's for the betterment of the game and the kids in the area.
Frankston will always be Frankston, and Casey will be growing to a similar size. The other 3 will always be small-medium size clubs unless they co-operate, in my opinion.

"Someone with power to sort out politics? Why don't you just come out and say that you think only a man could do the job, paul."

I was thinking more someone from Basketball Victoria, Basketball Australia or even the State Gov sport & rec dept.


"And "domestic and lower age" grouped together? Hmm, so you're basically saying women and children are the same in your pecking order."

I assume you don't follow basketball? Women, men, boys and girls all play domestic and all play rep, so lower age rep involves both genders, as do domestic competitions, as does older rep levels, as does Big V.

Obviously some issues facing this poster, I wish them the best of luck with their struggles.

"The problem is to house a super club of the 3 it would need it's own independent location. Rosebud (2 courts), Mornington (3 courts) and Somerville (2 courts), would all be too small to house a combined rep and senior rep program of the combined 3 I think."

You might be right, although I believe they are adding more courts at Dromana? How many U16, U18 and Big V teams would they have to cater for do you think?

There were plans about 5 years ago at Dromana. But haven't heard an talk of it recently. Rosebud wouldn't be able to accommodate additional courts I think because of its location within the school. Would you just stop at 16's though ? I mean, 12's & 14's are important formative years, and you'd want your best young players with/against the other best young players week in week out at practice and the higher divisions instead of spreading them the way they are. I think combined, the 3 Assoc's have around the mid 70's in terms of junior rep teams, and in 2014 boasted 10 Big V teams between them. Showing the appetite for the game in the area.

I think I would bring them together at U16s, maybe have one combined team in U14s with the top players. Not ideal but in the early years you can lose players if they're bing asked to travel too far.

Early last year there were plans up in the stadium at Dromana re the expansion, but must say I haven't heard anything since. Of course, I don't think a merger is happening any time soon so it doesn't really matter.

Nope, sadly not.