English (original) (raw)

Who we are

We are a private basketball club based in Basel, loosely affiliated with the University of Basel Sports Department. We count roughly 100 members, and currently have 4 boys’ teams and 2 men’s team participating in league games in Northwestern Switzerland.
Our roots go back to the 1950’s, when basketball was introduced as a recreational activity for university students. The club in its current form was founded in 1985.

Our purpose

Our club’s purpose is twofold: for youth players (aged 10 to 19), we aim to teach the wonderful game of basketball in all its facets (fundamental skills, fitness, tactics, team play, and sportsmanship). Our men’s teams, playing in the 2nd and 4th division respectively, offer recreational but competitive basketball with regular practices and camaraderie on and off the court.

Titles

In recent years our youth movement has been quite successful. Our Under 16 and Under 18 squads are champion, and our Under20s are vice-champion 2023 of the Northwestern Switzerland conference (BVN / Basketballverband Nordwestschweiz).

About basketball in switzerland

While football and ice hockey are by far the most popular team sports, basketball has a small but faithful fan base, with strongholds around Lake Geneva, Fribourg, and the Ticino region. The top division, called SBL, is a league featuring professional players from abroad and semi-professional Swiss players. There is one team from the Basel region, the "Birstal Starwings".
One player from Switzerland is currently active in the NBA, Clint Capela (Atlanta Hawks).
As in most European countries, and contrary to the U.S., we have a club-based rather than a school-based competition system.

How to join our club

Our club is open to basketball players of all creeds, races, and nationalities. You do not have to be a student or alumnus of the University of Basel. While the majority of our members are Swiss, we have players of many nationalities, be they 2nd generation citizens or expat students at ISB or Basel University. If you're over 20 years of age, you'll be playing on one of our Men's Teams.
Obviously before joining our club as a member, you’ll want to participate in a few practice sessions and perhaps watch a league game or two, and then you’ll discuss with the relevant team’s Head Coach whether joining Uni Basel Basket makes sense for you, as well as for our ballclub.
The annual fee depends on your age (youth players pay less than adults; students pay less than those holding a job), ranging from CHF 150 to CHF 460 per year.

How to participate in league games

In order to play for Uni Basel Basket in official competitions, you need to be a member of our club, and you need to hold a player’s license from the Swiss Basketball Federation. All you need to do is fill out the required forms, sign them (if you’re under 18 years of age, your parents need to sign too), add a photocopy of your ID or passport, send everything to our admins by e-mail, and pay your membership fee. We recommend that you ask your coach to help you with filling out the forms.

You can download our membership application dossier which contains all the relevant forms on our Contact page.
For more information, check out the team pages.