Stronach Signs Contract Extension
Ahead of Wednesday night's live Setanta Sports 1 game, the
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders are delighted to announce that Head
Coach Gary Stronach has agreed a one year extension to his
contract, signaling his commitment to the Raiders for what
will be his 24th year in the city.
Hailing originally from North Shields, Gary was signed as
a player from Sunderland 23 years ago and has now spent over
half his life playing for, and coaching, the Raiders. He's
become well known throughout the country as one of the best
recruiters of talent, and is very highly thought of amongst
Raiders' competitors around the league.
"I'm Raiders through and through," said Gary, delighted
to have agreed to the one year extension. "I love the
club, I've been here for 23 years now, first as a player and
more recently as a coach and director.
"This year really has been a stand out year for everyone
concerned with the club. We've gone from 9th to 5th last year
and we've been sitting in 2nd place for nearly half the season
this year. For a team only in our fourth year in the top league
in the country, that's pretty good going!"
Gary builds his teams to reflect his own personality - one
of hard work, commitment and consistency. The other two main
facets of the Raiders' play, especially since entering the
BBL, have been defense and team work. Other than rebounding,
you won't find a Raiders player near the top in any of the
statistical categories, but together, the team has performed
fantastically well this season, deserving their place near
the top of the BBL.
"It's just been a really great year for us," Stronach
added. "It was disappointing not to have gone further
in the Cup and not to have been able to play in front of our
own fans here at the Pavilions in the Trophy final, but in
the league, we've been one of the strongest and most consistent
teams. We're very tough to beat here in Plymouth, winning
13 of our 15 home games so far this season, and if we can
improve our performance on the road next year, we'll definitely
be there or thereabouts."
Gary not only coaches the BBL team, but is very active with
the Raiders Schools Coaching programme. He coaches at schools
in Cornwall two days each week, and is often seen at other
schools and events helping to spread the club's name. "Working
with children is enormously rewarding, not just for me, but
for the club as a whole. I'm very proud of the work we've
done in the past on racism and bullying in schools."
In December of last year, Gary received the BBC South West
Lifetime Achievement Award for his work and commitment to
basketball and sport in the area, and followed this up with
The Herald's Coach of the Year Award for 2007.
Gary finished off by saying, "We've still got a long
way to go before basketball and the Raiders get to where we
need to be, and it's my job to help the team get there. I'm
more excited than anyone that I'll be back next year. We've
had a great couple of years, but there's lots more of that
to come. I'm sure of it."
Gary will be signing his contract right before the Milton
Keynes home game On Wednesday 16th April. The game is being
screened live by Setanta Sports and they're believed to be
keen to be there to capture the moment as he puts pen to paper.
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