South West Slammers

South West Slammers
Leagues	State Basketball League
Founded	1989
History	Men: Bunbury Slammers 1989–2008 South West Slammers 2009–present Women: Bunbury Slammers 1992–1994; 2000–2008 South West Slammers 2009–present
Arena	Eaton Recreation Centre
Location	Bunbury, Western Australia
Team colors	Blue, red, white
Main sponsor	PrintSync
President	Carl Catalano
Head coach	M: Charles Nix W: Peter Harper
Team captain	M: Wade Hitchcock W: TBA
Championships	4 (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999) (M) 1 (2012) (W)
Website	SouthWestSlammers.com.au

The South West Slammers (formerly the Bunbury Slammers) are a basketball club from Bunbury, Western Australia competing in the semi-professional State Basketball League (SBL). The Slammers are a division of Basketball South West, the major administrative basketball organisation in Western Australia's South West region. For sponsorship reasons, the club is known as the PrintSync South West Slammers.

The Slammers were originally based in the City of Bunbury at the Bunbury Sports Centre (now South West Sports Centre) but relocated north to the suburb of Eaton in 2009 and are currently based at the Eaton Recreation Centre. The Slammers are one of four SBL clubs from Western Australian regional cities (along with the Geraldton Buccaneers, Goldfields Giants and Mandurah Magic), while the remaining ten teams are based within the Perth metropolitan area.^[1] The club has produced two current NBL players in Cameron Gliddon and Mark Worthington.^[2]

History

Men's team

For the first 11 years of the State Basketball League, the Slammers men were a dominant force, winning championships in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999, while also making grand final appearances in 1991 and 1992. However, after six grand final appearances and four championships in 11 years, things went decidedly south for the team. After ending up fifth in 2001, the Slammers had a disastrous 11-year stretch without a playoff appearance and an overall 46–225 record which included two winless seasons, and two years where they had just the one win.^[3]

Following the 2012 season, the Slammers knew they had to do something different to become a force again and that's where the appointment of Ty Harrelson as playing-coach came to fruition. After two good seasons in the SBL as a player with the Cockburn Cougars and Goldfields Giants, Harrelson made the move to Bunbury in 2013 and outlined a three-year plan that he hoped would set up the Slammers for long-term success. The Slammers became a good team, making the playoffs all three years with Harrelson, building to a third place regular season finish and a Grand Final appearance in 2015 with a team that consisted of Harrelson, Clive Weeden, Tre Nichols, Brian Voelkel and Trent Worthington.^[4][5]

The 2016 season saw the Slammers men drop from grand finalists to the bottom end of the ladder. Not only did the Slammers lose playing-coach Ty Harrelson coming into the 2016 season, but also Brian Voelkel, Jordan Hickert, Aaron Edwards, Jordan Sears, Patrick Phillips, Brendon Canzirri and Cameron Bell from the team that played in the grand final against the Joondalup Wolves. Despite retaining dynamic import guard Tre Nichols and picking up import forward Royal Crouch, Michael Van Lit had to settle with a very young and inexperienced roster for his first campaign as head coach of the Slammers.^[6]

Women's team

With the Slammers men entering the SBL for the league's inaugural season in 1989, a women's team followed suit and entered in 1992. However, the Slammers women left the SBL following the 1994 season but did return in 2000. The women's team failed to make the playoffs in their first 15 seasons before 2012 garnered a third-place finish and a 15–7 win/loss record.^[7] Not only did the women make their first playoff appearance in 2012, but they went all the way and won the Grand Final over fellow grand final first timers, the Rockingham Flames.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Current roster

South West Slammers men's roster Players Coaches Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. G 3 Nichols, Tre (I) 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) G 5 Kobzeff, Jacob 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 6 Kamara, Calvin G 7 Hitchcock, Wade (C) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) G 9 Nepe, Sharieff 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) F 11 Crouch, Royal (I) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) G/F 12 Durnin, Travis 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) F/C 22 Worthington, Trent 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) G 23 England, Josh 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) G 35 Puot, Teny 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) F/C 42 Weeden, Clive 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) F/C 52 Easley, Corey 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) King, Shaun G Woods, Daniel 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Head coach Michael Van Lit Assistant coach(es) Peter Harper Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 1 April 2016

South West Slammers women's roster Players Coaches Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. G 4 Thompson, Raya 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) G 5 Gliddon, Brittany 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) G 7 Ferraz, Meg 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) G/F 8 Bilcich, Ebony 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) G 9 English, Dena 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) F 10 Waycott, Catherine 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) G/F 13 Liddle, Demi 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) F/C 14 Preston, Rebecca 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) F/C 20 Kemp, Taylah 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) G/F 22 Bayliss, Courtney 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) G 23 Denehey, Georgia 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) G 24 Burrows, Tayah 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) G Bastow, Kelly 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) F Parsons, Cian 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) Head coach Juliann Bissaker Assistant coach(es) Kelly Bastow Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 1 April 2016

References

1. "SBL Previews". BasketballWA.asn.au. 4 June 2008. Archived from the original on July 21, 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. "NBL Update: Our two ex-Slammers and current Captains of their teams Mark...". Facebook.com. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
3. Pike, Chris (28 August 2015). "Men's SBL Grand Final Preview". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
4. Woodcock, Mitchell (28 August 2015). "SBL Grand Final: Slammers go hunting Wolves". Yahoo.com. The West Australian. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
5. Pike, Chris (28 August 2015). "Chance of fairy tale now a reality for Slammers and Ty". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
6. Pike, Chris (14 July 2016). "Future looks bright for Slammers despite challenging 2016". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
7. "2015 SBL Media Guide". SportingPulse.com. p. 53. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
8. Coleman, Hannah (20 August 2012). "Slammers, Flames edge closer to history (Women's Semi-Final Wrap)". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
9. Coleman, Hannah (27 August 2012). "Slammers, Flames complete miracle turnaround (Women's semi-final wrap)". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
10. Coleman, Hannah (1 September 2012). "Slammers claim first championsihp [sic]". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
11. Marsh, Melissa (29 August 2012). "Grand Final feast for local hoops fans". PerthNow.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

External links

• Slammers' official website
• South West Slammers on Facebook