Kilsyth Cobras

Did You Know?

• The Kilsyth Cobras men's team won the ABA National championship in 1985, their second season, by defeating the Bulleen Boomers.
• The women's team won both the SEABL championship and the ABA National championship in 1998 and again in 2002.

Club history

Kilsyth and Mountain District Basketball Association Inc. was established in 1963. In 1987, Eastern Sports Development Ltd was created to manage Kilsyth Basketball. The men's team debuted in the South East Australian Basketball League in 1984. The following year, the Cobras finished fourth in the regular season and won the ABA National grand final against the Bulleen Boomers. The women's team became inaugural members of the SEABL women's competition in 1990. They reached their first SEABL grand final in 1997, finishing runners-up to the Frankston Blues, then won the SEABL championship and ABA National championship in 1998. They were SEABL runners-up again in 1999. The men's team won the SEABL East Conference championship in 1999 but lost the ABA National grand final to the Geelong Supercats. In 2000, the men finished second in the South Conference and lost the ABA National grand final to the Hobart Chargers. The women's team won the SEABL championship and ABA National championship in 2002, then lost the SEABL grand final to the Bendigo Braves in 2003. The men lost South Conference grand finals to the Braves in 2005 and 2007. The women won their third SEABL championship in 2008. They won back-to-back South Conference titles in 2015 and 2016 but lost both SEABL grand finals to the Dandenong Rangers. After the SEABL ended following 2018, the Cobras joined the inaugural NBL1 season in 2019. The women's team defeated the Geelong Supercats 86–76 in the grand final to win the NBL1 championship, with guard Lauren Nicholson named grand final MVP. The NBL1 South season was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.