The Crusaders would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to our supporters.

The coaches have information packages for anyone who hasn’t received one as well as registration forms for the club and England Basketball.  Just to remind you we urgently need the following.

1. 2 passport photos

2. A photocopy of your passport (for players who did not plat national league last season)

3. Registration fee for the season

Please contact me with any questions.

Jesse

 There will be an important EGM on Saturday at 5:00 where we will go through all the key information for this season.  ALL PLAYERS AND PARENTS ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND.

 The schedule for the weekend is as follows:

SATURDAY

9:00-10:30 Under 16

10:30-12:00 Under 18

12:00-1:30 Under 14 and Under 16

1:30-3:00 Men

3:00-6:00 ALL (includes EGM)

SUNDAY

9:00-10:30 Under 18 and Men

10:30-12:00 Under 14

12:00-1:30 Under 18

1:30-3:00 Under 14 and Under 16

3:00-4:30 Men

The Kent Crusaders, who are currently based in Canterbury, will set up their training base in the new purpose-built hall at the heart of the redevelopment of the Black Lion leisure centre in Gillingham.

The club are eager to play a leading role in the development of sport in Medway and were attracted to Medway Park by its central location and the calibre of facilities being created.

Chairman Jesse Sazant said: “The opportunity to move to Medway Park is a dream for the club. Access to a top class facility where the entire club can train and play has been a priority for the directors and Medway Park ticks all the boxes for us.

“The combination of the facility and the support of the Medway 2012 team and Medway Council will allow us to pursue our goals of being one of the top clubs in the country for elite basketball.”

Since its foundation almost 20 years ago, the Crusaders have established themselves as the leading club in the county at junior and senior level.

Its senior men’s national league side, launched in 2004, is the highest ranked national league club in the county.

The club also runs elite national league development squads at junior level and has produced a number of players who have gone on to represent Great Britain and play professionally. Jesse Sazant is also a former coach of the England U16 squad.

The club run a sixth form academy at Canterbury High School and are developing academies for 11-16 year-olds. They have number of community coaches working in schools to develop basketball and are also approved to deliver Hoops 4 Health, a primary school initiative linking basketball and healthy lifestyles.

Their role at Medway Park will include delivering community sessions to encourage people of all ages to play basketball and help to identify and develop talented young players.

Todd Stuart, National Leagues Officer at England Basketball: “Since their entry into the National Leagues, the Crusaders have been amongst the top clubs in the country as far as administration, efficiency and success is concerned.

“From their success in National League to their achievement of the Sport England-England Basketball Clubmark award, this club sets a wonderful standard to follow.

“Their move to this first class facility is fully deserved and we wish them the best of luck as the Medway Park Crusaders.”

Cllr Howard Doe, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for community services, added: “We are thrilled to have such a successful and visionary club moving to Medway Park and we look forward to welcoming elite basketball to Medway.”

The Medway Park Crusaders will be the second club to relocate to the new-look Medway Park centre. Rainham Judo Club has already moved in to the completed judo centre and become Medway Park Judo Club.

The Crusaders’ Men’s Team will be relocating to Medway immediately with the juniors following in January.

Medway Park is an £11m project to transform the Black Lion leisure centre in Gillingham, being funded by Communities and Local Government, the University of Kent, Sport England and Medway Council.

The Mavericks Cheerleaders are starting yet another year as an advanced competitive, game day and promotional performance team.

They take members with any or none experience, male and female and with no age limit. And they want YOU to join them!

See the website for more information on this exciting and unmissable chance: www.maverickscheerleaders.co.uk

If you are already part of another team, that’s great. The Mavericks only train two hours a week at the weekends so it will fit in around any other team/commitments you already have.

The team need more Senior members and I would be grateful if you could pass this recrutiment plea message on to anyone you think may be interested.

Contact the Mavericks Cheerleaders now for a free trial and more information. If you wish to join, but cannot make the times/days we train, please just let me know.

Hope to see you soon,
Kirsten
(maverickscheerleaders@hotmail.com)

The junior teams has only joining the club this season and the club directors wanted to celebrate the expansion by getting all the club members together. “We wanted to make sure that all the teams feel that they’re part of the same club”, says Crusaders director of basketball, Jesse Sazant. “We’re bringing a lot of talented players together and the training camp was a chance for the kids to get to know the men’s players on a personal level, while the men got to see all of the new talent coming up. But more importantly all the club members now know each other, and feel part of the same project of bringing the Crusaders to the top of English basketball”.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday afternoon when all the players took part in a mixed tournament where one player from each age group was put on teams together and played in a three on three tournament. For two hours the teams battled it out for the honour of being the best team in the club.

After the tournament the men put on a show for the kids as last years home crowd favourite JP Dimandja lost out to newcomers Jamie Bragan and Soren Sorensen in a slam dunk contest, with Sorensen taking the honours in the end.

“It looked like everybody really enjoyed it”, says Crusaders men’s head coach Mads Olesen, “There was a lot of good basketball, and even more laughs. The kids got to play with the men, to see how good they really are, and the men got to have some fun in a weekend packed with three hard practices”.

Apart from the afternoon of fun the weekend was filled with hard work for everybody. Each of the four teams practiced two or three times over the weekend and made great strides to get ready for the season.

“The men’s team had three tough practices”, says Olesen, “A weekend like this makes it possible to spend a lot of time focusing on teamwork and with quite a lot of new players on the team it has been instrumental in making us a team on and off the court. It’s my impression that the same has been the case for all the teams this weekend”.

Additionally local National League referee Tony Tuffs ran a referees course for the Under 18 team and rules update sessions for all of the squads.

From the Under 18’s:

On Saturday and Sunday last week, Canterbury based Kent Crusaders National League Basketball Club, ran their first ever inter-club training weekend. Players are categorised into Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Senior Teams within the club and never before have the training sessions been mixed, and all costs were covered by the club.

Over 60 dedicated members of the club partook in ‘classroom style’ theory lessons and practical drills and skills, led by a motivational team of coaches and mentors. Each player enjoyed the unique experience of training with mixed age range and ability. The coaches decided that it would be beneficial for all age groups to ‘watch and learn’ which hidden talents lie within the club. The juniors could see what standard of skill and athleticism they needed to reach to play at a senior level, and the seniors could see what talents were coming through from the juniors, to keep them on their toes!

The Under 18s were given a fantastic opportunity to qualify as Level 1 Apprentice Referees, again, organised and paid for by the club. They all said that the training weekend had been an amazing chance to inter-mingle with the juniors and seniors, and have developed their basketball knowledge and experience, furthering their motivation and enthusiasm to become better players.

This was an incredibly successful weekend that has really helped form a special bond between all club players. Another is planned soon!

Both players have played at a high level, with Mitchell playing four years for his Canadian Division 1 side and Sorensen having played in the Danish Basketball League and Division 1.

Mitchell, 24, starred for Queens University in Kingston, Ontario in Division 1 of the CIS national university league, where he averaged 12 points and was selected Most Valuable Player for his team for the last three years. Apart from playing with the Crusaders Mitchell will be a coach at the Kent Crusaders basketball academy at Canterbury high school.

Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen is looking forward to having Mitchell as a part of the team around the Kent Crusaders: “I’m really looking forward to having Simon around both as a player but also as a coach. I’m sure he will contribute greatly to the success of the team on the court, and I think he’ll be as great an influence to the younger players off the court”.

Mitchell’s coach at Queens, Rob Smart, calls him the most complete player he has coached in his time as a CIS coach, and continues: “It is important to recognize that Simon’s statistics do not tell the story of his ability. Perhaps, the biggest compliment I can give Simon is that he continuously places the best interest of the team ahead of his own personal accolades. There is no question that Simon could have easily averaged a much higher PPG total, however, he was committed to involving his teammates and consistently shot a high percentage throughout his career. Simon is a proven winner and would be an asset to any team at the next level.”

Mitchell is still in Canada awaiting finalization of his work permit, and from there he says: “I’m very excited about this opportunity to play basketball in England and I’m looking forward to playing for the Kent Crusaders. I hope that I will be able to help the club achieve further success and in turn improve as a basketball player. I’m also looking forward to my role as a coach for the younger players. I hope that my knowledge of the game will be of use in helping develop their basketball skills. I’m eager to arrive in Canterbury and begin training with the team.”

The other import, Soren Sorensen, is a 19 year old talented guard/forward from Denmark. He has been able to play for Aalborg in the Danish Basketball League and Division 1 since the age of 16 because of his large physique – he’s 6’4 and about 17 stone of pure muscle.

Coach Olesen has known Sorensen for a number of years and as Sorensen was looking to play abroad decided to offer him a spot with the Crusaders: “I talked to Soren over the Christmas break last year and when I heard he was looking to play abroad I jumped at the opportunity to include him in our team. He’s a very talented player and he has an obvious physical advantage with his large frame, but at the same time there is a lot of room for improvement. We’re looking to feature Soren in a defensive role early in the season, and as we develop his skills we expect him to excel on offence as we get closer to the playoffs.”

Sorensen is moving to Canterbury along with his girlfriend Britt Christensen, who will be looking to use her extensive experience in Hip Hop and street dance to get into dance coaching. She was a 2006 silver medallist at the world championships of street dance in Gent, Belgium and has coached a Danish team to a 2^nd place finish in the national championship.

The Crusaders expects to announce a few more signings before season commences with a Patrons Cup game away against Plymouth Marjon on September 27^th. The club is still awaiting final confirmation on star player Robbie Parker and young big man Dan Garrad’s return and there are a few other domestic players currently training with the team who might be signed.