The 2010 NBL season is fast approaching and it is very interesting, as the rumour mill has started to do the rounds with where players are signed. There will be plenty of new faces in this year’s NBL. There will be seven new coaches in the league this year. I know two will be part of the two franchises to join the league but that is certainly the most coaching changes in my time here. It will certainly be exciting to see how they all fare. We have a couple of coaches from the US, local coaches from Invercargall and Otago and the coach that will cause plenty of interest in Pero Cameron. Pero has been a great player and a winning player. The question will be if he can transform that into coaching. Pero has a very high basketball IQ and I am sure he will develop into a very good coach.

A new season also sees new imports and it will be good to see how much more some of the local players have developed. For the Hawks I feel this could be a great year for the likes of Chris Daniel, Everard Bartlett and Jarrod Kenny. With the World Championships later in the year all three are very keen to impress and be invited to the camps to make the Tall Blacks. While Jarrod and Chris have just joined us Everard is in the best physical shape of his career and I feel he will have a tremendous year. There is one thing that hard work does and that is instilling confidence in a player. Everard has worked hard and I am very certain that he will show that on the court during the coming season. In fact all three players have now been in the league for some time and it is time for them to show they belong at a higher level such as the Tall Blacks.

One area that is always a challenge for any team is the sponsorship dollar. The Hawks have traditionally done well in all areas in the past ten or so years (I am not really aware of before then). It is not just on the court that we strive to achieve but also off the court. This year we plan to visit more schools and hospitals than before. One of our aims is to visit the cancer wards in hospitals in every town we play. The players of the Hawks are incredible role models for young people and nothing shows this more than after a game when all of the people storm the court to get autographs and talk to the players. It would be a shame that if in time the Hawks could not survive. To get some help from people in the business sector will only further the commitment of the Hawks to being a true community team. If you know anybody who may be a potential sponsor let us know or if you are a current sponsor, how about giving us a lead or two to help secure the Hawks even further into the future.

We are fully into training at the moment and will be in Gisborne on Feb 12 so come and say hi. We are playing a couple of games against Taranaki, which will be good to allow us to measure where we are. You can train all you want but games are the best was to evaluate the team so I looking forward to those games.

This season so far we have been able to have a number of young players training with the Hawks, which has been fantastic. It is good for the younger players to see the difference in level of skills and intensity. This enables them to get a clearer idea of what is needed to succeed.

Be back soon

With energy

Shawn Dennis