The WBBL will undergo some format changes that spell 'opportunity' for a lot of HOOPERS in the British Basketball scene. The BBL Trophy format has been for a while similar to that of the English Football Cup, where teams outside of the top level of competition are eligible to compete. In the BBL, this currently only extends out to NBL D1 and now, this will also be the same for the WBBL.
The fixtures for the 2022/23 #WBBLChampionship season have been confirmed!
— WBBL (@WBBLofficial) July 11, 2022
Click below to find out more about your club’s fixtures!
👉https://t.co/0GyIqpA9a0#BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/txRByNB3VZ
3 WNBL Division 1 teams will get their chance to play against some of the best Women's Basketball Clubs and Players the WBBL has to offer, with CoLA (City Of London Academy), Ipswich and TVC (Thames Valley Cavaliers) being the first this upcoming season. The Trophy is also now a 16-team single leg knockout bracket competition with the first set of matches to begin on January 7th and 8th.
The WBBL Cup has also undergone some changes as well as the Play-Off format. The Cup will now be a single-leg knockout competition, with the London Lions, Sevenoaks Suns and Sheffield Hatters receiving byes due to their 2021-2022 placements. The playoffs will also be single legged throughout and teams who knockout higher seeded opponents in the quarter-finals will gain home court advantage in the semi-finals.
All these changes have come after a very interesting few days in the BBL, with investments and clubs moving into Europe. The WBBL has been behind the BBL in a lot of areas; European Club competition is one of few. This move especially with the inclusion of 3 WNBL teams could be a great step in the right direction, as it gives a lot of up and coming British Hoopers a chance to show that they're ready to play at the next level, an opportunity that wasn't available to them in past years.