MANAGING DIRECTOR APPEALS TO FANS
By Adam Manning
Coventry Crusaders Basketball Club managing director Robert ‘Dip’ Donaldson has made a rallying-call to basketball fans in Coventry after the first team’s withdrawal from National League Division One, declaring: “I want to hear from you”.
The senior team finds itself in a transition period as ex-head coach and general manager Roger Payne ended his four-month stint with the club after pulling the team from action in the mid-season due to financial difficulties.
Warwickshire Basketball hall of fame coach Payne rescued the men’s team days before the start of the season last September, but after a lack of sponsors and continuously putting his hand in his pocket, couldn’t go on anymore after the 72-80 home defeat to Bristol Academy Flyers two weeks ago.
First team assistant and under-16s coach Marcus Garvey, who has been involved with the club since its move to Coventry in 1992, has been put in temporary charge of first team affairs whilst Donaldson decides on the ideal candidate “within a matter of weeks”.
As Donaldson pursues new sponsors and coaching staff ahead of the Divison Four campaign in October, he wants to talk to the public about what they want to see.
“I want their involvement to be the heart of this club” stressed the 51-year old.
“I want to hear from them either on facebook, twitter or by email their suggestions where we can develop fan involvement, get some momentum going and making it more of a club atmosphere.”
When asked what will be done differently this season, Donaldson stopped short to thank Payne and empathised with the off-court challenges that he took on at the start of September.
Financial hurdles to overcome for a National League team include paying for venue hire, table and match officials, media profiling, travel and players’ expenses – all amounting to over £20,000 a season.
“We’re looking at getting more people on board behind the scenes and upfront because it is hard work, and that’s why I cast no blame on Roger for his attempts” insisted the 51-year-old.
“I know how hard it is, and I don’t think people can appreciate that until you do it yourself.”
“He had 18 years of a platform to spring off and found it hard-going with the recession and commercial sponsorships being down across the board; he was up against it.”
And while Division Four holds less quality compared to Divison One, Donaldson believes starting from scratch provides a better opportunity to blend youth from the Under-18 side with experienced foreign imports as the club aims to rise back up the leagues.
“Because of our grassroots programme we’ve got talent throughout the club, and some of the younger guys can step up and get a game” he said.
“We might even be less reliant on guys outside of Coventry, but we’ll still take them because if you’ve got a successful club then they’ll still play.”
“But Marcus has a good grasp of the players and knows the heart and passion because he’s been there with me from day one.”
To get in contact with Dip email him at dip@crusaders.co.uk , and you can follow club updates on www.crusaders.co.uk or @CovCrusaders on twitter.