Mount Gambier Pioneers

Last updated

Mount Gambier Pioneers
Leagues NBL1 South
Founded1988
HistoryMen:
Mount Gambier Pioneers
1988–present
Women:
Mount Gambier Pioneers
2019–present
ArenaWulanda Recreation and Convention Centre
Location Mount Gambier, South Australia
Team colorsBlack, green, yellow
PresidentTom Kosch
Head coachM: Richard Hill
W: Matt Sutton
ChampionshipsMen:
ABA (1)
SEABL (3)
Conference titlesMen:
SEABL (6)
Website PioneersBasketball.com.au

Mount Gambier Pioneers is a member club of NBL1 South based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisation in the state's south-east region. The Pioneers play their home games at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre.

Contents

Club history

Early years

The Pioneers made their debut in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 1988, but only made the playoffs in one out of their first nine seasons. Under coach John Burns, the Pioneers finished the 1997 season as conference runners-up before missing the playoffs again in 1998. They finished as conference runners-up again in 2000. Burns led the Pioneers for 5½ seasons before taking up a teaching job in Indonesia just over halfway through the 2002 season; he was subsequently replaced by his assistant Sonya Knight. [1]

2003 Championship glory

With Sonya Knight at the helm in 2003, the Pioneers took out the SEABL South Conference Championship before going all the way and winning through to the ABA National Final, where they defeated the Ballarat Miners 127–113 to claim their first ABA Championship. [2] The 2003 Pioneers squad included Jason Sedlock (co-captain), Damien Anderson (co-captain), Damien Smith, Jamie Holmes, Kurt Russell, Allen Cram, Ben Jones, Brad Wilson, Sam Fotu, Jason Joynes and Kingsley Clarke. Russell was named Under 23 South Conference Player-of-the-Year in 2003 as well as the MVP of the National Final; [3] Holmes won the South Conference's Most Valuable Player award; and Holmes and Anderson were both named in the SEABL All-Star starting five. [2]

Era of dominance

After eight straight seasons of missing the playoffs between 2005 and 2012, the Pioneers won four straight SEABL South Conference titles between 2013 and 2016, all under coach Richard Hill. They also won back-to-back SEABL Championships in 2014 and 2015. [4] [5] [6] In 2017, the Pioneers won their fifth straight SEABL conference title, this time winning the East Conference. [7] They went on to clinch the SEABL Championship, thus winning their third national title in four years. [8]

Demise of SEABL, new era in Premier League

Following the 2018 season, Basketball Australia disbanded the SEABL, leaving the Pioneers in limbo for 2019. In December 2018, after much deliberation, the Pioneers were accepted into the South Australian Premier League. With the SEABL being Australia's elite semi-professional competition, the Pioneers were forced to accept many concessions in order to enter the Premier League, including diluting its SEABL-quality men's team, fielding a women's team, and paying $4,000 per visiting club toward costs of the trip to Mount Gambier. [9] [10] The Pioneers men reached the Premier League Grand Final in 2019, where they lost 107–90 to the Forestville Eagles. [11] [12]

In June 2019, the Pioneers lodged a bid for their men's team to enter the New Zealand NBL in 2020. [13] However, despite being granted entry by the New Zealand NBL Board, Basketball Australia declined to allow the Pioneers permission. [14]

NBL1

In October 2019, the Pioneers were granted entry into NBL1 for the 2020 season. [15] The NBL1 South season did not go ahead in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [16]

In 2022, the men's team reached the NBL1 South Grand Final, where they lost to the Hobart Chargers. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Australian Basketball League</span>

The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The league was closely linked with the Australian Basketball Association (ABA) and over the years, the SEABL boasted teams from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballarat Miners</span> Basketball team in Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat Miners is a NBL1 South club based in Ballarat, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Ballarat Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Miners play their home games at Ballarat Sports Events Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albury Wodonga Bandits</span> Basketball team in Albury, New South Wales

Albury Wodonga Bandits is a NBL1 East club based in Albury, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of the overarching Border Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball organisation in the Albury–Wodonga region. The Bandits play their home games at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Southern Vale Homes Bandits.

Bendigo Braves is a NBL1 South club based in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of the overarching Bendigo Braves Basketball Club, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Braves play their home games at Bendigo Stadium.

Matt Sutton is an Australian basketball coach and former player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geelong Supercats</span> Defunct basketball team from Geelong, Australia

Geelong United Supercats is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Victoria. Known simply as the Geelong Supercats for the overwhelming majority for its existence, the club fields teams in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is affiliated with Geelong United Basketball and plays its home games at the Geelong Arena.

Knox Raiders is a member club of the NBL1 South based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of Knox Basketball Incorporated (KBI), the major administrative basketball organisation in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The Raiders play their home games at the State Basketball Centre.

Thomas Daly is an Australian basketball player who last played for the Mount Gambier Pioneers of the NBL1 South.

Sandringham Sabres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Southern Basketball Association (SBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the Sandringham region. The Sabres play their home games at Sandringham Family Leisure Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunawading Spectres</span> Melbourne-based basketball club

Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Spectres play their home games at Nunawading Basketball Centre.

Shane McDonald is an Australian former professional basketball player. He had four stints in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Singapore Slingers, Perth Wildcats, Melbourne Tigers and New Zealand Breakers. The majority of his career was spent in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) for the Nunawading Spectres, winning a championship in 2011 and league MVP honours in 2013. In his final season, he helped the Spectres win the 2019 NBL1 championship.

Hobart Chargers is a NBL1 South club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The Chargers play their home games at the Derwent Entertainment Centre and Kingborough Sports Centre.

Timothy John Lang is an Australian professional basketball player for the Kilsyth Cobras of the NBL1 South. He played three years of college basketball for Stetson University before starting a successful SEABL career with the Kilsyth Cobras. He also had two stints in the NBL for the Melbourne Tigers, and won a championship with German club Erdgas Ehingen/Urspringschule in 2010–11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Tuatara (basketball)</span> Semi-professional basketball team in Auckland, New Zealand

The Auckland Tuatara are a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Tuatara compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Eventfinda Stadium. Founded in Tasmania in 2019 as the Southern Huskies, the team relocated to Auckland in 2020 and for two years were known as the Auckland Huskies. In December 2021, the team was purchased by the Auckland Tuatara baseball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBL1</span>

The NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia run by the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of five conference: NBL1 South, NBL1 North, NBL1 Central, NBL1 West and NBL1 East, with each consisting of both men's and women's competitions. Each conference is run by their respective state governing body, with the league including 76 clubs from across every state and territory.

The 2019 NBL1 season was the inaugural season of the NBL1. The season began on 29 March and concluded on 17 August with grand final day for both the men's and women's seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBL1 South</span>

NBL1 South is a semi-professional basketball league in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create NBL1. NBL1 South was the lone conference in 2019, with North, Central, West and East joining over the proceeding three years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBL1 South did not have a season in 2020 and only half a season in 2021.

Samuel McDaniel is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Southeastern Community College and Louisiana–Monroe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle Falcons (NBL1 East)</span> Basketball team in Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle Falcons is a NBL1 East club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 East. The club is a division of Newcastle Basketball, the major administrative basketball organisation in the region. The Falcons play their home games at Newcastle Basketball Stadium.

References

  1. ↑ Howell, Stephen (29 August 2003). "Knight makes her mark". TheAge.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Rod (24 July 2013). "Pioneers to revisit history". BorderWatch.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "ABA National Champions". SportsTG.com. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Hill, Kate; Sneath, Gretel (15 September 2014). "Championship win 'redemption' for Pioneers". ABC.net.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Young, Chris (13 September 2015). "Mt Gambier beats Border Bandits to win SEABL title". BorderMail.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Jackson, Trevor (15 September 2015). "Pioneers champions". BorderWatch.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  7. ↑ SEABL (25 August 2017). "Congratulations @pioneers_ball! 5..." Twitter. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "PIONEERS DYNASTY CLINCH THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP IN FOUR YEARS". SEABL.com.au. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sanity prevails as Pioneers settle". BotiNagy.com. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  10. ↑ "Mount Gambier Pioneers to play in Premier League basketball competition in 2019" . AdelaideNow.com.au. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "Results for 2019 Premier League Men – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "Pioneers fall short in Basketball SA Premier League grand final". borderwatch.com.au. 25 August 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "NEW FRANCHISE UPDATE – MT GAMBIER ANNOUNCE BID". nznbl.basketball. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "AUSTRALIA'S MOUNT GAMBIER DENIED ENTRY INTO NZNBL". nznbl.basketball. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  15. ↑ McCallum, Jordan (15 October 2019). "Mount Gambier Pioneers to enter NBL1 in 2020". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  16. ↑ Arsenis, Damian (20 March 2020). "2020 NBL1 season facing uncertainty as South teams withdraw". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  17. ↑ "NBL1 South | 2022 Men's Grand Final". NBL1.com.au. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.