Ballarat Miners
| Ballarat Miners | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leagues | SEABL |
| Founded | 1986 |
| History |
Ballarat Miners 1986–present |
| Arena | MARS Minerdome |
| Capacity | 2,000 |
| Location | Ballarat, Victoria |
| Team colors | Navy & white |
| Main sponsor | GMHBA |
| CEO | Peter Eddy |
| President | David Stuchbery |
| Head coach | Eric Hayes |
| Championships | 3 (1989, 1994, 1995) |
| Website | BallaratBasketball.com |
The Ballarat Miners are an Australian basketball team based in Ballarat, Victoria. The Miners compete in the Men's South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) and play their home games at the MARS Minerdome. The team is affiliated with Ballarat Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the GMHBA Ballarat Miners. Their sister team, the Ballarat Rush, play in the Women's SEABL.
The Ballarat Basketball Association Inc. was incorporated in 1966 and then built its own freehold facility in 1969 on the corner of Grevillea Road and Dowling Street in Wendouree. Backed by a flourishing local basketball program and facilities at the forefront of regional basketball associations, it was announced in 1985 that Ballarat would lodge an application to join the South East Basketball League (SEBL).
Basketball Ballarat formed a separate independent club to arrange the new venture and the Elite Teams department was established. The team chosen to represent Ballarat was called the Ballarat Miners and in 1986 the Miners were admitted into the SEBL.
Having entered the league in 1986, the Miners were immediately a force to be reckoned with. With Brian Goorjian at the helm, Ballarat reached the ultimate goal, with the South Conference Championship in 1987, only a year after their introduction.
Goorjian departed at the end of the 1987 season and was replaced by Al Westover, who subsequently took the team to a Conference three-peat from 1989–1991, taking the South Conference for the first two years before following it up with the East Conference when moving across conferences in 1991. Westover was honoured with the inaugural Coach of the Year award in 1990 for his leadership with Ballarat throughout those three years. The Miners accomplishments continued after the departure of Westover at the end of 1991, with Eric Lowe taking the side to conference runners-up in 1992 before Brendan Joyce took over in 1993.
In Joyce's first season, the Miners went through the regular season with a stellar record of 20–4, eventually losing the Conference Semi-Final and finishing second overall. But the following two years they again achieved the ultimate success with two CBA National Championships with win/loss ratios of 18–4 and 19–3.
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