BASKETBALL: Umbrella group will raise the bar

HAMISH BIDWELL
The days of Hawks management scouring the globe for basketball talent are hopefully numbered.
With all the disparate groups that make up the game in this region finally agreeing to work together under one Basketball Hawke's Bay banner, interim chairman Colin Stone says the future looks bright.
"Those groups will remain entities in themselves and we need them," Stone said.
"But we also need the bar to be raised and by having total buy-in from all of the groups, we're now going to be able to channel all that talent into one body. Those groups do a fantastic job as it is but we needed to put a few more layers on top of the cake to bring that talent through to the top level.
"To that end, I have to say the Hawks have been 150 percent behind this and have been a real driving force because, like us, they want to see more Hawke's Bay born and bred players in the Hawks and, ultimately, more Hawke's Bay born and bred players in the Tall Blacks."
That's the dream but getting there has taken plenty of hard work.
"The basketball scene in Hawke's Bay has always been a topic of much debate, which I won't get into now, but the reality is that there have been a range of different entities representing basketball in this region and that's been crazy. Clearly it has stymied the pathway for young players in Hawke's Bay.
"What we're looking for then, is for the existing associations to change their culture and to become sub-associations. That's Heretaunga, Hastings, Napier, Wairoa - which is just coming on stream - the module that's running in Central Hawke's Bay, the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools' Association, Swish Kids and Ngati Kahungunu Basketball, all of those entities will now come under the auspices of Basketball Hawke's Bay."
Stone has hand-picked an interim board of basketball people, none of whom have baggage from any of the existing bodies, which will help implement a three-year strategic plan for the code.
"Obviously there's me as chairman, Dan Druzianic who is a Hastings accountant, Gerry Sullivan, a Napier solicitor, Scott Sclater is a former Hawks NBL player and Magpie, Di Robertson, a former Sunhawk and Tall Fern, Kerry Weston who played for the Sunhawks and Roger Coleman, the CEO of Pettigrew-Green Arena," the Sport Hawke's Bay chief executive said.
Already the new board has set about establishing itself as a legal body, while plans for player, coach and staff development have already been designed as Stone sets about presenting a cohesive face to the rest of the country.
"Because it was so un-coordinated we, as Sport Hawke's Bay, have tried to introduce a strong regional culture, which is a core part of our business. We did the same in rugby league, although we're looking at this as a more short to medium-term involvement, rather than the three years we invested in re-establishing rugby league.
"One of the things we're really excited about is that we're developing the tournament structures and coaching philosophies for 2006 in some detail and I think it's fair to say that we've achieved more in the last two months than we have in the last five years."