The novelty created for the Women’s Basketball League this season, the league qualifiers, will not take place. Tom Westerholm, the competition director of the Basketball Association, is not disappointed, but reminds us of the big picture.
No team will be relegated from the Women’s Basketball League, as there are not enough strong teams in the women’s first division who want to rise. The league qualifiers are not played in the spring, even though they were supposed to be new this season.
By mid-December, sixteen women’s first division teams three announced their willingness to rise: BC Nokia, Joensuun Kataja and Jyväskylä Basketball Academy.
In order for the league qualifiers to have taken place in accordance with the series regulations, two of these three should have reached the first division finals. However, before the last matches of the regular season of the women’s first division, it is clear that BC Nokia, who is currently at the top of the league in terms of winning ratio, has a chance to reach the finals. JBA did not reach the playoffs. Kataja’s season continues in the relegation zone.
This also means that in the women’s Korisliiga, Espoo Basket Team and HBA-Märsky are only fighting for the last playoff spot in their last matches. In the original setup, one of these teams would have finished last in the playoffs of the top eight, and the other would have finished last in the league in the league qualifiers.
The current league jumbo EBT plays its last regular season match as a guest of Tapiola Honga on Tuesday evening. HBA has two more regular season games left. HBA is currently tied for the last playoff spot ahead of EBT.
The competition director of the Basketball Association by Tom Westerholm according to, it is not a disappointment that the league qualification does not take place.
– The league qualifier was built more because we wanted to keep relegation in the women’s Korisliiga. It wouldn’t be the case that in the fall it would be known that no one would fall. We wanted to keep the women’s league team on their toes from the risk of relegation, Westerholm describes.
Westerholm reminds that league qualifiers have been played in men’s and women’s basketball when the number of teams has been increased.
– It’s disappointing that there aren’t more teams willing to go up, says Westerholm.
Tenth league team important because of credibility
Basketball is not the only ball sport in Finland where there are no league qualifiers in the women’s main league. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation announced the corresponding decision on Monday. So no team will enter the women’s hockey league.
In basketball, the situation can be different.
The Women’s Basketball League has been played with only nine teams for a long time this season. The basketball association has a strong desire to complete the series into a series of ten teams. According to Westerholm, BC Nokia will be offered a place in the series if they reach the finals of the first division. Otherwise, according to Westerholm, the decision to move up requires more consideration of how low they start to supplement the women’s main series.
However, ten teams in the women’s main league would be an important matter for the Basketball Association.
– Ten teams are important in terms of credibility. 12 teams would be even better, but that’s not realistic right now. An even number of teams is also better than an odd number. 12 teams would probably be the target in the big picture, says Westerholm.
Westerholm admits that there is a bigger difference in level between the women’s first division and the main league than between the two hardest league levels for men.
The competition director still reminds us of the bigger picture.
– A few years ago, we had a situation where seven or eight teams were sure to enter the women’s first division. Now we have reached sixteen teams. I think it’s a great thing that there are so many teams playing in national leagues and advancing their activities like this, says Westerholm.
Four of the sixteen teams are the second teams of the league teams.
Although only three of the first division teams wanted to move up to the main league next season, according to Westerholm, the situation can be better in the future. According to a club survey conducted a month ago, the representatives of nine different clubs had stated that they would like to see the team play in the main league in the coming years.
– It is not yet concrete at the moment. Hopefully in the future there will be other teams that will target the women’s Korisliiga, says Westerholm.