This year has been a fun but difficult year for the basketball academy. We, as ever, aim to build the team around the experience of others, and constantly aim to recruit new talent. As every year, players graduate and venture off to University or return to their home countries, leaving myself and the Basketball academy to wonder what the next year will hold.
However, the players that have stayed with us at BCS have shown great maturity and stepped up to fill the void. Captained by Henry Lau, the squad is full of talent and although the season has not given us many senior wins, we have continued to show that we aren’t just there to make up the numbers. This year the Solent League combined Divisions 2 & 3, meaning we would face teams that in previous years had been a full division above us; most of those games, have unfortunately been non-contests, but against the Div3 teams, we have performed well.
Over the season, the players have built a team and become a single unit. At the beginning of the year, input from local basketball coach Chris Mills helped me to step back a little and a renewed, different approach to the game saw greater maturity and decision making from our players.
Our smaller, faster guards, led by Peter Huang, have so much strength in depth and become a reliable running unit. Our youth often helps us in the senior league, as we aim to run other teams off the court, with fast transition play and these guys have not stopped running all year… which doesn’t help this old guy who has to attempt to keep up!
Underneath, our bigger guys have fought hard against some massive opponents; Gozim is always a defensive threat, with some huge blocks, whilst Yera has become an integral part of the team, strong inside at both ends and has clearly become an influence on the younger players. I will now take this opportunity to congratulate him and appoint Yera as next year’s Club Captain [APPLAUSE].
As this year draws to a close, we look to the future and junior players. The U14’s are superbly strong. Harley Churchill regularly trains with England Basketball and has recently been to Prague to play in the EuroBasket League. And no less than 4 of our players represent Dorset Storm at the weekends too. And when the U14’s faced local “selective” teams in the Dorset Junior Tournament, we destroyed Weymouth Tropics 32-0, beat Salisbury Sparks 24-10 and with our guys back in Seahawks uniform, beat the Storm 16-10 to win the days tournament. The U16s, led by Myles Rothenburg, faced stronger opponents, we finished 3rd, topping the Storm, but were no match to Salisbury, who had England squad players in their line up, and narrowly missing out in a close game to Weymouth. The future looks bright for the Seahawks as we look to gain more school and junior level fixtures. I’ll use this time to shout out to those younger players who have stepped up to the senior level, to formidable opponents. Benno, Brendan & Shawn have worked hard in training to show that they were ready to step into the ring and none have shy-ed away from the contest.
I’d also like to thank, and Im sure the team would agree, all the supporters we have on Thursday nights. Boarders, Staff, & Parents who come and make noise for us, again no matter the score, you keep us running and hope next year we can continue to entertain and give you more wins.
This year does see a vast majority of the squad move on from BCS, and we take this time to thank them for their years of commitment. It is a great privilege to have these players in my squad, and to coach them, but also a great enjoyment to play alongside them. Ive said it before and I’ll say it again, the Solent League is not an easy league, and we are literally putting kids against men. But the opposing players, coaches, referees always comment on what a great team we have, so I’d personally like to thank all my squad players for another great year of Seahawks Basketball.
AWARDS:
Most Valuable Player Award, and the Academy Athlete of the Year Award goes to Peter Huang.
Most Improved Player was a very close contest with so many players working so hard in training, so I feel it necessary to mention those shortlisted before naming the winner. Yera Aimaganbetov, Abner Li, Brendan Willson, Benno Huber, and Kian Safaee were all put forward for the award and we congratulate them for their effort…. But the winner is Abner Li.
We also have a special Coaches award and this goes to Josh Strongman. Josh is a BCS Alumni, currently at Twynham 6th form but has continued to commit to the team. He joined the Seahawks in Year 9, in 2013, the first year it started, and was playing in senior fixtures at age 13. This year he has been a great mentor to younger players, has worked tirelessly, consistently led our scoring, and his effort has paid off with a scholarship to Arkansas State University to play basketball in America. Congratulation Josh.
Best Newcomer of the Year goes to Yera.
Junior Player of the Year goes to Brendan Willson.
Spirit of the Sport goes to Benno Huber
And finally, the Players Player, as voted by the squad, goes to Peter Huang.
