Your nifty guide to playing basketball in the San Francisco, Bay Area 🏀✨
In 2012, I moved to San Francisco after I quit playing college basketball in Wisconsin. I remember the moment I walked into my coach’s office and told him I was leaving. It was not a happy moment. I never imagined I would have done such a thing. When I moved to San Francisco that summer, I didn’t know a lot of people but I did know I needed to find somewhere to play basketball — because that’s what I knew and that’s what I did.
Now, almost 6 years later, I’ve consistently played in 2–3 (and sometimes 4) basketball games per week ranging from indoor to outdoor pickup games, to organized basketball leagues, to organizing my own basketball league, to playing in full-court tournaments, 3v3 tournaments and beyond. But even more importantly, basketball is the reason I have met some of my very closest friends — and that has made all the difference.
Lately I’ve had a lot of people reaching out to me for advice on where to play basketball at in the area.
Oh that’s easy, there are LOTS of places to play basketball here. It just depends what you’re looking for…
So today I’ve decided it’s time to put together a guide— your guide — to playing basketball in the San Francisco, Bay Area. Hoop it helps!
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Best Outdoor Pickup
This list is in no particular order except line item #1.
- Dolores Park → FAV
- Mission Playground
- Joe DiMaggio Playground
- Alice Marble Tennis Courts
Yes. This park has basketball courts and not just tennis courts! - The Panhandle
Best Indoor Pickup
This list is in no particular order. For Rec Centers, make sure to call ahead to confirm when open gym is happening.
- Potrero Hill Rec Center
Location: Potrero Hill, San Francisco
Cost: Free - Betty Ong Rec Center
Location: Chinatown, San Francisco
Cost: Free - Outer Sunset Rec Center
Location: Outer Sunset, San Francisco
Cost: Free - Pick Her Up Basketball
For women only
Location: Head Royce High School
Day: Sundays 3:00PM–5:00PM
Cost: $5 (Cash or Venmo)
A good friend of mine, Emma Leyden, runs this pickup group and has been doing an amazing job with it. You can learn more about her story here. - Women’s All BBall
For women only
Location: San Francisco and Oakland
Cost: n/a - Eureka Valley Women’s Open Gym
For women only
Location: Eureka Valley Rec Center
Day: Tuesdays from 6:30PM–9:00PM
Cost: Free
Basketball Leagues
There is a wide range of basketball leagues to choose from in the Bay and each of them offer something different depending on what you want. Here is the list of leagues that are on my radar, in no particular order.
- UCSF Mission Bay Leagues
Location: UCSF Mission Bay and Parnassus Campuses
Leagues offered: Women’s, Men’s, and Coed
Competitiveness: High
Recommendation: UCSF runs some very good basketball leagues. Their women’s league is my favorite in the city. Their facilities are high quality, staff is professional and the price is very afforable. Players who play in these leagues are often ex-college players or players who have at least played in high school — although this is not a requirement. - Work Force Athletics (WFA)
Location: Varies: San Francisco, South Bay, East Bay
Leagues offered: Corporate Coed
Competitiveness: Moderate to High
Recommendation: This is by far one of the most fun and competitive adult basketball leagues I have ever played in. WFA is very well organized/managed and it’s reminiscent of my experiences competing in high school and college since each team in the league is given a coach who works with them throughout the season. You don’t need to have a ton of experience to play in this league, there are different divisions to manage the different levels of competitiveness. WFA is a corporate basketball league and is designed to allow employees to create stronger relationships with their colleagues outside of the office, as well as encourage company pride in good spirit competition, and get a good work out in! - Zog Sports Leagues
Location: Varies; The Mission
Leagues offered: Women’s, Men’s, Coed and Corporate
Competitiveness: Low to Moderate
Recommendation: I’ve only played in one Zog Sports (coed) league and immediately realized that this league was not right for me. My biggest critique of Zog Sports is that it doesn’t organize the fundamentals which I require a league to have in order for me to want to pay for it. They don’t hire professional referees, team’s must keep their own score and although all players are given matching shirts— the shirts don’t have numbers on them. If these details don’t matter much to you, then Zog Sports could be your match! Although Zog Sports isn’t the right league for me, I found the organization to be quite professional. - Play in the Bay
Location: The Marina and Telegraph Hill
Leagues offered: Men’s, Coed
Competitiveness: n/a
Recommendation: I’ve only heard about Play in the Bay from word of mouth so I don’t have useful recommendations for this league. I have heard one of the gyms they rent out for coed games is quite small although I’m sure this is subject to change. - SF Social
Location: Chinatown and North Beach
Leagues offered: Men’s, Coed
Competitiveness: n/a
Recommendations: I’ve only heard about SF Social from word of mouth so I don’t have useful recommendations for this league. From my understanding, the basketball leagues they offer are fairly new. - Adult Basketball Events
Location: Carlmont High School
Leagues offered: Men’s, Coed
Competitiveness: High to Moderate
Recommendations: A friend of mine, Michael Baker, runs these leagues. He is a true diehard basketball-er. I’ve only subbed in games for Michael, so I really don’t know much about the leagues but, since I know Michael personally, I would definitely recommend checking this league out for those who live near the Carlmont High School area. I know, he knows the in’s and out’s of putting together good basketball events. - Dream League
Location: Varies across San Francisco and Oakland
Leagues offered: Men’s
Competitiveness: High
Recommendations: I’ve known the owner of Dream League, Rich Twu, since I first moved to San Francisco. Although Dream League only runs men’s leagues, I played consistently in one of their leagues for about 1–2 years. Rich does a very good job putting these leagues together. Players should expect a high-level of game play from Dream League since they run the leagues based on NBA rules which also includes double-elimination playoffs. - Olympic Club Leagues
Location: Olympic Club
Leagues offered: Women’s, Men’s
Competitiveness: High
Recommendations: Olympic Club runs leagues that are invite-only. I’ve never been invited to play so I can’t tell you much about them! What I have heard is that these leagues are often very competitive and teams run practiced plays.
Golden City Sports UPDATE: GCS is on hold
GCS is a basketball league I started in 2017 and of course, I think it’s the best one. Check out the website to learn all the details. Through running this league I’ve learned just how challenging it is to find an open and affordable gym space in the city. I’m giving major props to all the leagues out there making it work. Because of this roadblock, Golden City Sports is in limbo until we can find a proper gym space.
Location: TBD
Leagues offered: Coed
Competitiveness: High
Basketball Tournaments
My friend, Michael Baker, organizes a handful of basketball tournaments throughout the year. Michael posts information for these tournaments through his website, Adult Basketball Events. One of the more well-known tournaments that I’ve played in through him is the annual Ohana Basketball Tournament. It is typically scheduled for the first weekend after NYE.
Women’s All BBall is known to organize an annual 3v3 women’s outdoor tournament sometime during the year. You can learn more about those events here.
Final Thoughts…
I’d love to think about this guide as a work in progress. If you think I’ve missed something, then defintely let me know! I’m always down to check out new courts, leagues to play (or sub) in, and meet new people to run with. Just give me a hollar and let’s hoop 🏀✨
More Recommendations
Big thanks to everyone who has reached out about my guide! I’m happy to hear that it’s been helpful. Since originally posting, I’ve had a few people reach out with even more recommendations for places to play. I’ve decided to add them here at the end. Happy hooping!
Upper Noe Rec Center
Location: Noe Valley, San Francisco
Cost: Free
Campbell Rec Center Leagues
Location: Campbell, CA
Leagues offered: Women’s, Men’s
Competitiveness: Beginner and Advanced
Thanks for reading! If you thought this guide was helpful, give it a clap-clap. You can find me on Instagram as hello_imalexa 🔥
