The Southland Sharks will reflect on ten years of excellence in the New Zealand National Basketball League at a special Ten-year Anniversary Dinner on Wednesday 3 July.
The event will fittingly be staged on Court One at ILT Stadium Southland, where so many great memories have been created over the past decade.
Tickets for the night are now on sale via the Basketball Southland office and General Manager Jill Bolger said it will be a special night.
“I don’t know where those ten years have gone. It doesn’t seem that long ago we were pulling this whole thing together. I think it’s important we celebrate a milestone like this. If you’d said to me back in late 2009 when we built this from scratch that today we’d have achieved all that we have over the ten years, even I would have struggled to believe it,” Bolger said.
“There are so many people, players, coaches, management, supporters, sponsors and funders, who have been with us from day one. They backed us when we had no track record and they are the reason we are what we are today. The Anniversary Dinner gives us a chance to remember and recognise everyone who has been a part of the Sharks’ Family. It has truly been a team effort,” she said.
In a short space of time, the Sharks have created a culture and environment which is recognised as one of the best basketball environments in the country.
76 players have pulled on the orange SIT-emblazoned singlet over the 10 years, starting with the side’s first signing Luke Martin all the way through to replacement import Roberto Nelson this year. They have been guided by three head coaches – inaugural coach Richard Dickel, Tall Blacks’ coach Paul Henare and current mentor Judd Flavell and have fashioned an enviable 106-74 win-loss record.
The tenure has been headlined by three NBL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2018 and there would be no finer way to celebrate ten years of excellence than with a fourth championship in 2019.
For tickets contact Jill Bolger at Basketball Southland. They are available on an individual basis or in tables of ten for $80 each.