BC Valga-Valka, also known as BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club representing the twin towns of Valga, Estonia and Valka, Latvia. The team plays in the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League. Their home arena is the Valga Sports Hall. From 2015 to 2018 the team uniquely competed in both Estonian and Latvian domestic top leagues.
History
Valga Korvpallikool (Valga Basketball School) was founded in 2001. In 2006, the team won the third tier II Liiga and was promoted to the top tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML). Valga finished the 2006–07 regular season in eighth place and advanced to the playoffs, where they were defeated in the quarterfinals by eventual champions University of Tartu, losing the series 0–2.
Valga finished the 2008–09 regular season in fourth place. In the playoffs, Valga defeated Tallinna Kalev in the quarterfinals, winning the series 3–2, but were swept by University of Tartu in the semifinals. The team faced TTÜ in the third place games, losing the series 0–2 and placing fourth in the final standings. Valga also made their debut in the Baltic Basketball League (BBL) in the 2008–09 season, but failed to advance past the group stage of the Challenge Cup competition.
In July 2015, it was announced that Valga will join the Latvian Basketball League (LBL) for the 2015–16 season, thus becoming the first club to simultaneously compete in both the Estonian and the Latvian League.[2] Valga finished the 2015–16 regular season in sixth place. In the playoffs, the team faced VEF Rīga in the quarterfinals and lost the series 0–3.[3]
Sponsorship naming
Valga has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship: