Arena Capacity 818 Team colors Red, White Website www.raplakk.ee Head coach Aivar Kuusmaa Capacity 818 | Location Rapla, Estonia President Jaak Karp Arena Sadolin Sports Hall Date founded 1996 | |
History KK Rapla
(1996–2004)
Rapla KK
(2004–present) Leagues Korvpalli Meistriliiga, Baltic Basketball League | ||
Rapla KK, known as AVIS Rapla for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Rapla, Estonia. The team plays in the Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML) and the regional Baltic Basketball League. Their home arena is the Sadolin Sports Hall.
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History
The club's predecessor, Basketball Club Rapla (Estonian: Korvpalliklubi Rapla), was founded in 1996 as division of the Rapla Sports School, developing both men's and women's basketball players. In 2004, Rapla Basketball School (Estonian: Rapla Korvpallikool) was formed.
In 2010, Rapla moved to the new Sadolin Sports Hall and was promoted to the top-tier Korvpalli Meistriliiga (KML) for the 2010–11 season. Coached by Indrek Ruut, the team finished the regular season in 6th place and reached the playoffs, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by TTÜ/Kalev, losing the series 1 game to 3. In 2011, Rapla joined the Challenge Cup competition of the regional Baltic Basketball League for the 2011–12 season, but failed to advance past the group stage. In 2012, Rapla reached the Estonian Cup finals, but finished as runners-up after being defeated by Rakvere Tarvas 64–81.
In 2014, Ruut was replaced as head coach by Aivar Kuusmaa. The team finished the 2014–15 regular season in third place. In the quarterfinals, the team faced Valga and won the series 3 games to 1. The team lost in the semifinals to Kalev/Cramo, but won the bronze medals in the third place games, winning the series against Rakvere Tarvas 2 games to 1. Domagoj Bubalo named to the All-KML Team. Rapla finished the 2015–16 regular season in fourth place. The team defeated Rakvere Tarvas in the quarterfinals 3 games to 1, but were swept by Kalev/Cramo in the semifinals. Rapla faced TLÜ/Kalev in the third place games and won the series 3 games to 1. Indrek Kajupank named to the All-KML Team.
Sponsorship naming
AVIS Rapla has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship: