Frankston Blues

Did You Know?

• Frankston joined the NBL for the 1983 season but left after 1984 due to financial pressures.
• The Bayside Blues women reached four straight ABA National grand finals from 1991 to 1994.
• In 2026, the Blues men won their first men's title of any sort since a SEABL conference win in 2009, defeating the Eltham Wildcats 78–75.

Club history

Frankston Basketball got its start in 1959. Two decades later, in 1979, the association moved into the Bardia Avenue stadium, and that same year Jason Placas launched the Frankston representative program, which took part in the VBA Championships in 1979 and 1980. The Frankston Bears entered the first season of the South East Australian Basketball League in 1981, placing second on the ladder and making it to the ABA National grand final, where they fell to the Geelong Cats. The Bears turned things around in 1982, winning both the SEABL championship and the ABA National championship. That success earned them a spot in the National Basketball League for 1983, but financial strain forced the association to pull out after the 1984 season. Also in 1984, a Frankston Bears women’s team competed in the first season of the Women’s Basketball Conference. In 1986, Frankston teamed up with the neighbouring Chelsea Association to create the Bayside Blues Basketball Club, which represented both groups until 1995, when Chelsea left due to financial issues. A Bayside Blues team joined the inaugural SEABL women’s season in 1990. The Bayside women finished second on the SEABL ladder in 1991 and reached the ABA National grand final, losing to the Dandenong Rangers. In 1992, they placed third on the ladder and again made the ABA National grand final, this time losing to the Knox Raiders. The Frankston Blues women claimed their first SEABL championship in 1993 by finishing first on the ladder, then beat the Broadmeadows Broncos in the ABA National grand final for their first ABA title. In 1994, they finished second on the SEABL ladder and reached a fourth straight ABA National grand final, but lost to the Knox Raiders. In 1997, they topped the SEABL ladder for a second SEABL championship and defeated the Townsville Sunbirds in the ABA National grand final for a second ABA championship. The Bayside men won back-to-back SEABL conference championships in 1992 and 1993. The team changed its name to Frankston in 1994. The Blues men then won conference championships in 1995, 1998, and 2000, and were ABA National runners-up in 1995 and 1998. In 2004, the women’s team won the SEABL championship, while the men’s team took the South Conference title in 2009.