Basketball Ballarat expecting 'record numbers' for 50th tournament

Some 350 teams will take part in the three-day event over the King's Birthday long weekend.

Games will be played on 25 courts at Selkirk Stadium, the Minerdome, Phoenix P-12 Community College, Ballarat High School, St Patrick's College, Loreto College, and Damascus College.

Basketball Ballarat partnerships manager Melissa Thomas said this would be the biggest junior tournament the city had hosted, with entries up by more than 30 per cent. on last year.

"We've added an additional four courts at Phoenix College to ensure we can get through all the games."

Basketball Ballarat chief executive officer Neville Ivey said the iconic Ballarat basketball tournament continued to get bigger.

"With so many players, coaches, parents and siblings converging on Ballarat for the weekend, it's estimated it will generate $8.3 million in gross regional product," Basketball Ballarat's CEO said.

Ballarat mayor Cr Des Hudson said the tournament was a staple on the Ballarat calendar.

"It's great to see so many young people and their families from far and wide coming to the city every year.

"The event brings enormous economic benefit to Ballarat and is a huge tourism driver for our city," he said.

"We acknowledge the incredible effort from Basketball Ballarat for reaching such an impressive milestone with 50th running of the tournament."

The event starts on Saturday, June 10 and caters for under-12 (11 divisions), under-14 (12 divisions), under-16 (11 divisions), under-18 (8 divisions) and under-20 (3 divisions) players from across the state.