From the Clubrooms - “Culture and Loyalty – Just How Important Is It”

Well the first issue of From the Clubrooms got some discussion happening. Thank you to everyone who has engaged with the column so far – there is plenty more to come.

This issue looks at the area of Culture and Loyalty. Just how important is it to create a strong culture within an SBL Club, and does this go hand in hand with Club Loyalty?

And further to this, what is more important – a winning culture or a club based culture?

And will a winning culture cultivate a “successful” club? By successful club, I mean on the court and off the court – financials, membership, sponsorship and goodwill.

The culture of Wanneroo in the early 2000’s was about local talent, and this is still a major component of what we strive to achieve today. But there were two things that this focus on local talent was not achieving. The club had not won a Gillam Trophy, and the SBL teams were in the middle of a number of lean years. Whilst we had a culture of local talent, we did not have a culture that united the club. To start the process of developing a new culture, we looked to introduce a new vision.

Wanneroo Basketball – To Be The Centre of Basketball Excellence in Western Australia.

This vision was well aligned with our existing culture – to be the centre of basketball excellence we had to grow our membership, develop our junior talent and encourage them onto bigger and better things. The club was already performing well in many of these areas, with the difference being that we now had a vision to which everyone could work to achieve. Domestic clubs, WABL coaches, SBL teams, referees, support staff – if a decision needed to be made, it was encouraged to be based around the principles of becoming the centre of basketball excellence in WA.

This vision would later evolve into Wolfpack Basketball – but more on that in future issues.

A strong culture provides many benefits for a club. To name just a few:

  • Professional coaches want to coach at the club;
  • Sponsors want to become involved;
  • More development programs get run – which adds to your membership;
  • The SBL players engage with junior kids, who then support the SBL teams week in week out;
  • Clubs from other sporting codes want to engage with you which provide opportunities for collaboration;
  • The retention of local SBL talent at a fraction of the cost of recruiting from other clubs; and
  • The attraction of high profile players who want to associate with the club culture.

The reality of this is that it will drive on court success – give it time. And the hope is that it drives sustained success. Further to this, it ensures the sustainability of the league. It ensures that consistent player development programs are in place for junior players, that coach and referee numbers are high through all age groups that participation numbers are strong, and it also stops clubs inflating the pay packets of Australian based players when they need to fill holes that have been created through their inept performance off the court.

At Wanneroo – we see the benefits of culture every season. On many occasions, a player has signed an SBL contract with the Wolves on the basis that they want to get involved with juniors and want to be involved with the club culture and the supportive members. It really is a situation that feeds on itself.

Further to this, the proof in the pudding can be seen in two ways in recent years:

  • 2011 SBL Championship - Going down the list of most games played in Wanneroo SBL history, 3 of the top 4 players were on the court for this championship win; Tony Pearman (300 games), Doug Gates (277 games) and Damian Matacz (208). Only the third positioned Reece O’Sullivan (239 games) was missing from the team that day.
  • Wanneroo won their first Gillam Trophy, and have now held in outright for a number of years. This cultivation of juniors has seen many players progress onto the SBL team. This adds to the depth of the program and builds the support of the program. Recent names to consider include Lewis Longthorn, Reece Maxwell, Adam Maguire, Blake Wilhelm, Laura Pugh, Megan Lee and Bekki Sanders.

From the club’s point of view, it was fantastic that our club stalwarts have been able to be rewarded for their longevity at the club. By having such a length of tenure, the culture of a team and a club can be instilled for many years to come. And those entering the club year in year out know what the expectations are, and know what it means to play Wolfpack Basketball, play Lighting Basketball or any other club for that matter.

So this begs two questions. Firstly, do you know what your club stands for? Not your team, but Association wide? Does your club dominate at all levels, or are you lacking a club culture?

And secondly, who would you have in your All Star 5 for loyalty and service to an Association? Either a club based 5 or a league based – your choice. To be eligible a player must have played more than 200 games with a club, or played their entire WA Based junior/senior career at the one club. Extra points for those players who have put back into their clubs during their careers.

Recognition for the true servants of the league who have made the league what it is today!

If you would like a topic to be covered in future issues, please email wolfpackSBL@gmail.com.

Ryan Hunter
Wanneroo Wolves - President

Article by Wanneroo Basketball Association
Photo by Wayne Wright (Wayne Wright Photography)

The opinions, views and comments in this article are those of the individual and are not the opinions or views of the State Basketball League or Basketball WA.




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