Scantlebury Era Ends at Sharks
Following five years at the helm of the Sheffield Sharks
in the British Basketball League, Peter Scantlebury and the
Sharks have decided to go their separate ways.
Scantlebury represents only the third Sharks coach in 14
seasons of BBL basketball competition, (Jim Brandon and Chris
Finch preceded), and was given the coaching role after three
and a half seasons as a player with the Sheffield side.
"Scants has been a fantastic role model for the Sharks
and British basketball and has been a major contributor to
our award winning community programmes", stated Yuri
Matischen, Chairman of the Sharks. "But both Peter and
the Board feel they have done as much as they can within the
Club's commercial and organisational structure."
During his time as Head Coach, Scantlebury lifted the BBL
Cup in 2004 and the Play-off Championship in 2004, and finished
League Runners-Up in 2007.
In addition, Scantlebury, was supported by the club in his
role as England Senior Men's Coach for the 2006 Commonwealth
Games in Melbourne when he brought home the bronze medal and
helped establish a platform for Great Britain Basketball to
be considered for Olympic participation in 2012.
"My nine years in basketball with the Sharks has been
both great fun and a great experience. It's given me a massive
platform in building my career as a coach and being involved
in broader sporting developments," stated Scantlebury,
the BBL's all-time leading points scorer. "I intend to
continue my coaching career here or abroad and continue with
my other sports development consultancies," he added.
In his twilight years as a player, Scantlebury was named
player of the year for the Sharks and received his MBE for
his services to basketball. His statesman's role has continued
and within South Yorkshire, along with Olympic veteran diver
Leon Taylor, he remains a Sporting Ambassador for the South
Yorkshire SportsPulse project encouraging international and
pre-Olympic Training Camps to the region.
"On behalf of everyone involved with the Club and particularly
the Board, we would like to sincerely thank Scants for his
significant contribution to the Sharks over his nine years
as both player and coach," said Gerry Montgomery, Life
Vice-President.
"This has been a very difficult decision for us to make
and we wish Scants every success knowing there will always
be a special place here at the Sharks for Peter, Jackie and
his family," closed Mr Montgomery.
The indications are that Scantlebury's departure has stimulated
a number of changes within the Sharks organisation after a
season in which the four time League Champions finished 6th
in the BBL, whilst defeat at Plymouth Raiders last Saturday
saw them fail to make the BBL Championship Play-offs final
four for only the second time.
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