Both the men's and women's teams travel to the Northern Suburbs Indoor Sports Centre Crows Nest on Saturday night to play the Northern Suburbs Bears, then in week two they play Hornsby Spiders in Thornleigh and finish the opening three rounds the following weekend against the Hunters in Newcastle.

The Hornets men are primarily a young group of players who have progressed through the junior representative program.

They have been bolstered by the inclusion of two former American imports in Terrance Rone and Andre Boykin. Both Americans have been journeymen during their time in Australia, playing with several WBL teams in recent years.

Rone has played with the Hornets on a previous occasion but was regarded as an impact player and true import in his younger days, whereas he now appears set to play a senior, mentoring role to his much-younger teammates.

The Hornets finished in seventh position in the 2008 WBL competition, then slumped to a disappointing ninth in 2009.

The Hornets women's team is also primarily based upon graduates from the Hills junior representative program, with the inclusion of three players from the now-defunct Parramatta Wildcats women's team from 2009.

The Lady Hornets have been on an upward path over recent years, improving from wooden-spooners in 2008 to grab a place in the playoff series in 2009.

Whether this season's women's team can repeat or improve on their 2009 performance will be quickly assessed by the local fans over the early rounds of the competition.

The full teams:

Men: Andre Boykin, Mitchell Brown, Josh Chapman, Matt Crowe, Emils Duselis, Justin Kay, Mitch Morris, Robert Meyrick, Jamie Newth, David Pollard, Terrance Rone.

Women: Aloisa Aguilan, Denise Alarcon, Donna Amery, Jamie Chapman, Deanna Cook, Amanda Ford, Kate Johnston, Andrea Roditis, Anita Roditis, Caitlin Thomas, Victoria Swindells, Selena Wawrzyniak.