Obligatory Basketball Coaching Dilemma post to follow: you know how it goes. There are less than weeks to go before Essex Rebels tip off the new season at the Sports Arena. The men have a home court game on 12th September. The women start their season in early October.
And whaddyaknow? Both teams now are Coach-less.
It was announced a few weeks ago that Ashley Cookson would be stepping down as Head Coach of the women. Good luck to Coach Cookson and his young family as they start a new life back home in Canada. He leaves Our House with the women’s team in a better position than when he arrived.
But the bombshell announced today, if indeed you can call it a bombshell in local basketball terms, is that men’s Head Coach Joe Hart is also stepping down. There’s no succession in place, with the Rebs urgently looking for someone new to lead the team in just over a week’s time.
I think it’s all good news - that is if you can call two head coaches leaving, with no one else to replace them, good news. Coach Cookson has made no secret of wanting to head back to Canada with his family; Coach Hart, meanwhile, has landed himself a coaching role higher up with an as yet unnamed men’s Super League team.
Good luck to them both. It does leave something of a dilemma for the Rebs with the new season counting down. They’ve also advertised recently for a new game announcer plus also a game day experience person to hold it all together.
I often feel that the Rebs both benefit but are also hampered by the university status of both teams. It’s great to attract young players who can combine their studies with playing basketball at an elite level, But once their time on campus is up they disappear. Likewise for a lot of the support staff.
It’s far too early in the season to get concerned. In fact the season hasn’t even started. I was feeling positive with the resurrection of the men’s third team after taking a sabbatical for a couple of years. I can’t help think on the court things will be a little stretched before all three teams get to settle down as we enter the winter months.
I’m kind of used to this now, Back in the day and it was always the same with Elite League ice hockey. You would get familiar the roster of players and the head coach, and then come the end of the season they would all disappear and it would be all change a few months later when the puck drops once again.
Come to think of it after a batshit transfer window, Premier League football isn’t a million miles away from this right now.