Brookhouse Provides NBL Tasmania Update on Name, Coach Search

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Tasmanian NBL team CEO Simon Brookhouse has provided an update on the club’s search for a name, coach and much more.

Speaking with Jack Heverin on SEN’s Time On, Brookhouse discussed a wide range of topics relating to NBL Tasmania, as the team ramps up preparations for their entry into the league in the 2021/22 season.

On the growing excitement amongst the Tasmanian community:

“It’s an exciting opportunity for sport in Tasmania, not just basketball, but I think sport in general. To follow the NBL and the growth that Jeremy (Loeliger) and Larry (Kestelman) have been able to achieve and to now have a team in Tasmania that’ll be Tasmania’s own in a national competition and with the international media, it is really exciting and an opportunity too good not to look into. The one thing I do know is Tasmanians are really passionate about something that is theirs. The NBL’s vision to have this team out of Tasmania, and the other sporting codes have looked at Tasmanian teams and not had the leap of faith, so I think that’s a really great thing and it will unify the state. I’m really hopeful that everybody is going to get behind it and really support it as their own and that’s the main thing, it is a Tasmanian team, it’s the community we want to be involved in and we want to be successful. Everybody is extremely excited about this opportunity for the team and I think it’s a great testament to the Tasmanian culture that they want to get behind this and make it successful.”

On working with Tasmania’s NBL1 clubs (Hobart Chargers, North West Thunder, Launceston Tornadoes) and growing the sport at a grassroots level:

“It’s important we work with those teams and with Basketball Tasmania. One of the major aims for this team is, yes, we want to be successful from an NBL point of view, but we want to be successful to grow the sport in Tassie. If we can double the numbers of Tasmanians who play basketball, that’s as big an achievement for us as winning an NBL title.”

On the team name:

“We closed the entries on Friday last week and there is a shortlist that will be published soon. I think a number of those (names) were in the media last week, the Timbers, the Tridents, the Jack Jumpers and a few others. They’re all really good names and they all relate to Tasmania and I think that’s really important that it’s the community making the decision around this and obviously we need to bring the brand to life, but they’ve all been involved.”

On the appointments of staff, coaches and players:

“First and foremost, we will get some off-court staff in place. There are a number of roles we will be filling in the coming weeks and months. The coach is really important, and I think it’s something we will take very seriously, our search for a coach who can build a culture from year one. Then the next phrase is obviously players and one of the things that has to be taken into consideration is the fantastic support from the Tasmanian Government, not only around the team but the redevelopment of the home court being the Derwent Entertainment Centre. We want some Tasmanian flavour in this as well, so we will be looking, whether it be off court staff or on court players, to make sure there is a Tasmanian influence. These are the sorts of things we need to work through and between now and Christmas we really need to get the off-court staff in place, coaching structures looked at and then get into the community and start launching the brand.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LISTEN: There is a new <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> franchise in Tasmania. It doesn't have a name, but it has a CEO. Simon Brookhouse joined <a href="https://twitter.com/JackHeverin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackHeverin</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/TimeOnSEN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TimeOnSEN</a> for a fantastic chat.<br><br>Link: <a href="https://t.co/8Mb6pGl1Pv">https://t.co/8Mb6pGl1Pv</a></p>— Time On with Jack Heverin (@TimeOnSEN) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimeOnSEN/status/1296015708959068160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>