switch of NBL and WNBL seasons to Summer enabled the ABA to offer professional players a showcase for their skills during the Winter months. Extensive discussions and numerous meetings regarding the establishment of an Australian-wide association based basketball championship consumed considerable energy and time throughout 1998. This activity culminated in December 1998 with the Basketball Australia Council formalising the ownership and the national structure of an association based national competition. This competition was set to consist of representation from Basketball Australia's Constituent Associations in a series of regional geographic competitions and incorporating the existing CBA competition structure. The management of this competition was offered to the CBA. To accommodate this decision, it was agreed that a new company, CBA (National) Ltd, would amend its Memorandum & Articles and change its name to Australian Basketball Association Ltd. Basketball Australia and all participating conferences were equal shareholders in this management company. The competition was thus promoted under the Australian Basketball Association banner from 1999 with further enhancements to be applied the following year as envisaged in the approved guidelines for the establishment and conduct of the new competition. 2000 saw the addition of Big V from Victoria and in 2001 the Waratah Conference from New South Wales was included for the first time. Starting in 2002, the champions of each of the six conferences and a number of wildcard entries competed at the annual ABA National Finals. This addition of a truly national ABA finals series marked the dawn of a new era of national basketball competition in Australia. The ABA National Finals became known as the Australian Club Championships (ACC) in 2007 and continued on as such in 2008. The ABA was abandoned following the 2008 season, resulting in the Big V, Central ABL, QBL, SEABL and Waratah League continuing on as independent leagues. ABA National Champions Men Women See also Basketball Australia Big V Central ABL List of developmental and minor sports leagues National Basketball League Queensland Basketball League South East Australian Basketball League State Basketball League Waratah League References External links 1998 CBA teams 1981 to 1999 champions 2002 to 2006 champions Basketball leagues in Australia Sports leagues established in 1965 1965 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia Sports leagues disestablished in 2008