New Taylor Hawks basketball coach Mick Downer familiarising himself with Napier on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor
New Taylor Hawks basketball coach Mick Downer familiarising himself with Napier on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor
Former New Zealand NBL Coach of the Year and Australian 2016 Olympic Games team assistant coach Mick Downer will be the coach of Hawke's Bay's Taylor Hawks national basketball league side next year.
The appointment has come at the end of a difficult year in which, against the odds, theHawks reached the final against dominant side and eventual champions, the Wellington Saints.
It included the later arrival of a new coach from Australia with a pair of coaches acting in interim roles, thanks to travel implications of the Covid crisis, the overall picture now requiring what Hawks chairman Keith Price says are some key changes to the front office and courtside leadership.
In what has been a significant recruiting success, Downer will head up the basketball team in both the role of general manager and head coach of the Taylor Hawks in the Sal's NBL.
He's had more than 20 years of high-performance coaching and management experience throughout Australia and New Zealand, most recently as the head coach of the Canterbury Rams and as programmes director at the Canterbury Regional Basketball Foundation.
Hawks fans were treated to a strong season in 2021. Photo / NZME
He was the league's Coach of the Year in 2019, has coached in the Australian NBL for more than a decade and was on the Australian team staff at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Price said: "We've been really close to a championship in recent years. The sport continues to evolve quickly with its popularity, professionalism and growth.
"We felt, as a club, now was the time to ensure we are resourced to continue on from recent successes and continue to build a championship calibre team, both on and off the court.
"We are really excited about hiring Mick to lead the club as we move forward," Price said.
"He comes highly regarded, has the unique skill set of both coaching and management and has applied these skills with success from the community through to the Olympic level.
"He's well respected throughout the league and we look forward to working with him as we continue to build on the club's professionalism and performances."
The appointment is part of a plan that will see "year-round expertise" on the ground in Hawke's Bay, something that is essential to help foster opportunities for local players and help continue to grow strong partnerships with Hawke's Bay Basketball and other community partners.
Current general manager Amy Price will move into a supporting space for the club.
Basketball Hawke's Bay's general manager Nick Hogan applauded the Hawks for the appointment, saying: "Mick will be a great addition for Basketball in the Hawke's Bay. We are looking forward to working closely with the Hawks to leverage off Mick's pedigree and skill set."
Downer and his family, including wife Mel, a Basketball New Zealand national pathways manager, will look to land in the Bay at the start of the new year, although the new coach is spending two days in the Bay this week meeting members of the coaching and management team being built around him, along with leading sponsors and supporters.
But with the family also heading towards the sunshine to help sort out a new home for next year, he's grabbing the chance to learn some local sporting culture in the Hawke's Bay Magpies NPC rugby semifinal on Saturday at McLean Park.
"I love rugby," he said, expecting that some of his time in Hawke's Bay will also be spent with the movers and shakers in other sports.
There was a collective of high-performance coaches in Canterbury, and Downer said: "Coaching is coaching. It doesn't matter what the sport is. We all have the same aspirations and ideals."
