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3 October 2025  3 min read

Elite Academy Leagues set for 2025/26 tip off

The 12-strong field in both leagues will all be chasing a spot in the Academy League Playoff Finals, held on Thursday 26 March 2026 at Essex Sports Arena.

The season's biggest games will be heading back to the East region for the first time since 2018/19, when Charnwood College Riders claimed both titles on a historic day for their programme.

Both the EABL and WEABL schedules get underway on Wednesday 8 October 2025, with the first half of the campaign drawing to a close on 10 December 2025 ahead of the mid-season break.

Firing back into life on 14 January 2026, it's then a sprint to the finish for the end of the regular season on 11 February 2026.

Barking's Rikki Broadmore coaching in last year's EABL Final

EABL

The EABL cohort will all be trying to topple Barking Abbey, who extended their lead as the competition's most successful programme with a sixth title last March.

As is often the case in the Academy competitions, teams must navigate the transient nature of roster building, with players progressing to the next step of their basketball journeys after just a few years in the league.

In that regard, Barking are no different, losing all five of their starters from last season's playoff showpiece in Manchester.

Head coach Rikki Broadmore is excited for the new campaign, but realistic about the year ahead given his programme's turnover: "Defending the EABL title is always a good thing. It's something we've done before, but we'll be defending it against some very talented teams again this year.

"It's exciting for us to be defending champions, but at the end of the day, it's about performances and developing the players.

"We're a whole new team, so we just have to figure that out and hopefully we figure it out throughout the season.

"So it's could be a really interesting year, but we've got our work cut out for us."

Copleston's Nick Drane leads his team during a time out in last year's WEABL Final.

WEABL

Copleston High School are the team to beat in the WEABL after the Suffolk programme beat debut finalists Manchester Mystics in 2024/25.

The victory was Copleston's second title, and first solo win after the shared crown of 2019/20's COVID-affected campaign.

Copleston's clashes with City of London Academy - Southwark in the South Conference will once again be a highlight of the calendar, but plenty of other programmes will fancy their chances of stepping up to the mark and mounting a challenge.

Like Barking, Drane's roster has faced something of an overhaul, meaning that an repeat success in 2025/26 isn't at the forefront of his side's thinking. He said: "It means a great deal to be the WEABL champions, a competition that has eluded us for many years,

"However, we are very much focused on the development of our players and the journey that they will go on this season – with defending the title very much at the back of our minds.

"With no third-year players this year, and a number of injuries, we are fully aware of the challenges we are up against this season."

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For a full rundown of all the teams involved in the EABL and WEABL for the upcoming season, including the key returning players, scroll through the carousel below.