BRENDON EGAN

The Canterbury Rams will appoint a fulltime head coach for next season as they seek to build the most professional domestic basketball programme in the country.

In their return to the National Basketball League this year, Dave Harrison coached the Rams on a voluntary basis, alongside assistants Pete McAllister and Tim Bennetts.

It had been a massive undertaking from the coaches, who also had day jobs.

The Rams’ comeback season was in danger of being a flop halfway through their campaign, losing 10 of their opening 11 games. They finished with a flourish, winning five of their final seven outings to end up ninth with a 6-12 record.

Rams director Andrew Harrison, Dave’s brother, said the coaches had sacrificed an enormous amount of time and should be proud of the way the side played late in the season.

Harrison said they wanted the fulltime coach to oversee the Rams academy, their regional talent programme, as well as running their flagship men’s team.

“We want to develop an outstanding elite programme in Canterbury from 14-year-olds right through. To do that we need a fulltime coach. We want one integrated programme.”

The Rams were likely to start advertising for their head coaching job next week. They hoped to be able to name the successful candidate this month or in early August, so they can start planning next year’s squad.

Harrison believed there would be strong interest in the position and said they wanted the best person for the job, regardless of whether they came from Canterbury or not.

He was delighted at the way the Rams’ comeback season had gone off the court and said it had been great to have elite basketball in the city again following the 2011 earthquake.

The Rams sold out seven of their nine home games at the 1400-capacity Cowles Stadium.

Harrison said 95 per cent of their home game attendance had been paying customers.

Several games sold out, days in advance, which Harrison said was encouraging.

“Our first and last game, we could have sold 3000. Officially, 99 per cent of all tickets were sold for the season.”

He predicted a small profit of $15,000-$20,000 for their first season back in the league.

The Rams would again play at Cowles next season, he said. They would consider taking one or two games to the larger CBS Canterbury Arena in Addington to test interest.

“At CBS, it’s hard to create an atmosphere unless you’re getting 3000-plus. The cost structure is twice as much [as Cowles]. I definitely have the confidence we could sell 4000 tickets.”

Feedback from the Rams’ corporate sponsors had been pleasing and Harrison was optimistic they could grow their sponsorship base for 2015.

The new Rams coach would have the final say on next year’s playing squad, but Harrison said the priority was to keep the core of their side together.

“We’ve shown what we can do [during the last seven games]. We’re now in the position, where the majority of that squad will be retained. It gives us a really solid base moving forward.”

– The Press

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