Southern District Spartans, current members of the QABL had their transfer request for both men and women's teams to the South East Australian Basketball League granted by the Australian Basketball Association board yesterday afternoon. Their addition to the SEABL competition proves that the SEABL is well regarded amongst other ABA leagues.

Based in the suburb of Carina, Brisbane, the Southern Districts club have had a rich tradition, with tremendous successes for over a decade with both men's and women programs, which include 1 ABA National and 17 QABL Championships.

SEABL Chairman Hugh McMenamin said "The introduction of a team from Queensland is a fantastic achievement, as it shows a commitment to the development of elite basketball and to the SEABL competition. The League wishes them well for a long term future in the league."

A major factor behind the decision by Southern Districts Spartans to transfer out of the QABL and into the SEABL, is to boost the clubs women's program. The Spartans have dominated women's basketball in Queensland for over ten years, and believe the higher weekly standard of the SEABL will enhance the clubs development, which has dropped in recent years.

"We made the application to join SEABL to accelerate our growth and standard which we feel in time will better the sport in Queensland," said Southern Districts President Charles Ellis.

The SEABL Women's program has seen a huge improvement in recent years with the introduction of NW Tasmania in 2005, Albury/Wodonga in 2006 and welcome Southern Districts in 2007.

"We, as a league, are always striving to develop a competition that will ultimately assist in growing the sport across the nation," said McMenamin.

Both men and women Spartan teams are the current QABL Champions and both sit well placed to challenge for the title again this year.