Background

Kalamunda & Districts Basketball Association (KDBA) was incorporated on 1 October 1971.^[1] In 1991, KDBA affiliated with Basketball Western Australia and entered teams as the Kalamunda Hornets in the WA Junior State League competition.^[2] A decade later, Basketball Western Australia encouraged the amalgamation of KDBA and their regional rival, Swan Districts Basketball Association (SDBA). Hills Raiders Basketball Association (HRBA) saw this as an opportunity for their players to access this level of competition as well. As a result, a new association called Eastern Region Basketball Association (ERBA), playing as Eastern Suns, was formed in 2001. The ERBA's inaugural president was Bob Little (HRBA President & SDBA Life Member) and all three associations had two representatives with ERBA. Initially there was input from all three associations, but this deteriorated when SDBA found themselves in financial difficulty with increasing debt to Basketball WA. KDBA was in a position to seek a license from the State Basketball League (SBL) but was unwilling to assume the SDBA debt as part of their license (in excess of $40,000). Swan City Mustangs SBL and Association ceased to operate following the 2003 season.^[2]

In 2006, ERBA was disbanded and KDBA introduced the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. The following year, KDBA were granted an SBL license for the 2008 season.^[2]

SBL / NBL1 West

In 2008, the Suns debuted in the SBL with men's and women's teams. The inaugural men's coach was Joe Mackay, while Craig Mansfield and Rob Butt coached the women's team.^[1] While the men's team finished in ninth place with a 12–14 record, the women's earned a finals berth with a sixth-place finish and a 13–11 record.^[3] They went on to sweep the third-seeded Cockburn Cougars in the quarter-finals,^[4][5] before losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks in the semi-finals.^[6][7][8]

In 2013, the women's team made their way through to their first WSBL Grand Final behind coach Craig Mansfield and captain Chelsea Armstrong, as well as Ajay Jones, Jennie Rintala and Melissa Moyle.^[9] They finished the regular season in fifth place with a 12–10 record and advanced through the first two rounds of the finals undefeated, beating the Lakeside Lightning in the quarter-finals and the South West Slammers in the semi-finals.^[10] In the championship decider at the WA Basketball Centre on 30 August, the Suns were defeated 72–47 by the Wanneroo Wolves.^[11] Rintala top-scored for Kalamunda finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.^[12] Between 2008 and 2015, the women's team only missed the finals once.^[13][14]

In 2021, the SBL was rebranded as NBL1 West.^[15][16]