23 Jun Southern Districts Double Vision
Whether you know it from history class or from the movie 300, the legend remains the same, the Battle of Thermopylae is the story of Spartan soldiers, completely outnumbered defending their home against driving forces in 480 BC.
In the WBA, in 2025, it’s the Spartans who have the numbers advantage, so much so that they will field not one but two teams in the National Wheelchair Basketball League.
A year after entering the NWBL, Southern Districts will roll with two sides, the Spartans and the Titans. With the departure of the Adelaide Thunder from the men’s league, the arrival of the Titans ensures a seven team competition continues.
“Thomas came to me at the end of the season and said we’ve got that much interest and that many players,” said Southern Districts General Manager Bec Stephens.
“Last year we only had the one team so there were a lot of players that sat on the end of our bench that potentially didn’t get to play as many minutes as we would have liked. They’re Queensland players that we wanted to give opportunities to and we don’t want to lose them to other teams so Thomas came and said, ‘Where are we heading with this?’”
Key to Southern District’s expansion has been encompassing players from across Queensland.
“We’ve managed to expand across the state, capturing more players in the pathways developing towards the senior teams which we wanted from day one,” says Southern Districts coach Thomas Kyle Jr.
“With two teams, having the ability to capture more of the state, we’ve engaged eight of the nine independent wheelchair clubs in Queensland.”
In addition to the nucleus in Brisbane, the Southern Districts pathway now has links in Townsville, Mackay, Fraser Coast, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Toowoomba.
Not only is the club engaging with the players but also the staff and coaches in these areas as well.
“As we move towards the 2032 Paralympics, what can we build off of the foundation that is already there with the independent clubs and what they’ve done,” said Kyle.
The two sides will be distinctly separated. The Spartans will feature the many of the prominent players from the 2024 campaign and will be coached by Tom Kyle Sr while the Titans will carry the tag of up and comers, featuring players keen to get more minutes at the national league level with Thomas Kyle Jnr in charge to keep his finger on the pulse of the development of younger players, in line with his role as assistant coach with the Under 23 Spinners.
Getting the funds to field one national league team is challenging enough but Spartans management didn’t hesitate when it came to fielding a second team.
“Last year was such a successful year that it was pretty easy for me to get it across the line with my board, the community and being able to get enough sponsorship dollars,” said Stephens.
“The Carina Leagues Club was our sponsor last year and when I approached them about this year and that we wanted to expand the program, they doubled their sponsorship immediately because the guys were just so engaged with them and so engaged with the community that it made my job easier to go and find the extra funding.”
The Southern Districts’ two pronged attack comes as Queensland showed out at the National Junior Championships, going undefeated through the pool games and semifinals before falling short in the final against South Australia.
Kyle was there in his capacity with the Spinners and says the atmosphere across the five teams bodes well for the sport.
“Across the board, I think the general vibe across the country is that wheelchair basketball in Australia has a revitalised energy around the future which is what we want,” said Kyle.
“We understand that when you buy into this you’re helping build the whole system which all feeds up to the Rollers and Gliders and hopefully winning medals at Paralympics. I think the proudest thing for me is that engagement both across the staff and the players there at nationals.”