Mount Gambier Pioneers

Mount Gambier Pioneers is a member club of NBL1 based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisation in the state's south-east region. The Pioneers play their home games at Bern Bruning Stadium.

Mount Gambier Pioneers
LeaguesNBL1
Founded1988
HistoryMen:
Mount Gambier Pioneers
1988–present
Women:
Mount Gambier Pioneers
2019–present
ArenaBern Bruning Stadium
Capacity920
LocationMount Gambier, South Australia
Team colorsBlack, green, yellow
PresidentTom Kosch
Championships4 (2003, 2014, 2015, 2017) (M)
0 (W)
WebsitePioneersBasketball.com.au

Club history

Early years

The Pioneers made their debut in the SEABL in 1988, but only made the playoffs in one out of their first nine seasons. Under coach John Burns, the Pioneers finished the 1997 season as conference runners-up before missing the playoffs again in 1998. They finished as conference runners-up again in 2000. Burns led the Pioneers for 5½ seasons before taking up a teaching job in Indonesia just over halfway through the 2002 season; he was subsequently replaced by his assistant Sonya Knight.[1]

2003 Championship glory

With Sonya Knight at the helm in 2003, the Pioneers took out the SEABL South Conference Championship before going all the way and winning through to the ABA National Final, where they defeated the Ballarat Miners 127–113 to claim their first ever National Championship.[2] The 2003 Pioneers squad included Jason Sedlock (co-captain), Damien Anderson (co-captain), Damien Smith, Jamie Holmes, Kurt Russell, Allen Cram, Ben Jones, Brad Wilson, Sam Fotu, Jason Joynes and Kingsley Clarke. Russell was named Under 23 South Conference Player-of-the-Year in 2003 as well as the MVP of the National Final;[3] Holmes won the South Conference's Most Valuable Player award; and Holmes and Anderson were both named in the SEABL All-Star starting five.[2]

Era of dominance

After eight straight seasons of missing the playoffs between 2005 and 2012, the Pioneers won four straight SEABL South Conference titles between 2013 and 2016, all under coach Richard Hill. They also won back-to-back SEABL National Championships in 2014 and 2015.[4][5][6] In 2017, the Pioneers won their fifth straight SEABL conference title, this time winning the East Conference.[7] They went on to clinch the SEABL National Championship, thus winning their third national title in four years.[8]

Demise of SEABL, new era in Premier League

Following the 2018 season, Basketball Australia disbanded the SEABL, leaving the Pioneers in limbo for 2019. In December 2018, after much deliberation, the Pioneers were accepted into the South Australian Premier League. With the SEABL being Australia's elite semi-professional competition, the Pioneers were forced to accept many concessions in order to enter the Premier League, including diluting its SEABL-quality men's team, fielding a women's team, and paying $4,000 per visiting club toward costs of the trip to Mount Gambier.[9][10] The Pioneers men reached the Premier League Grand Final in 2019, where they lost 107–90 to the Forestville Eagles.[11]

In June 2019, the Pioneers lodged a bid for their men's team to enter the New Zealand NBL in 2020.[12] However, despite being granted entry by the New Zealand NBL Board, Basketball Australia declined to allow the Pioneers permission.[13]

NBL1

In October 2019, the Pioneers were granted entry into NBL1 for the 2020 season.[14]

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References
  1. Howell, Stephen (29 August 2003). "Knight makes her mark". TheAge.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. Morris, Rod (24 July 2013). "Pioneers to revisit history". BorderWatch.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. "ABA National Champions". SportsTG.com. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  4. Hill, Kate; Sneath, Gretel (15 September 2014). "Championship win 'redemption' for Pioneers". ABC.net.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  5. Young, Chris (13 September 2015). "Mt Gambier beats Border Bandits to win SEABL title". BorderMail.com.au. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  6. Jackson, Trevor (15 September 2015). "Pioneers champions". BorderWatch.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  7. SEABL (25 August 2017). "Congratulations @pioneers_ball! 5..." Twitter. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. "PIONEERS DYNASTY CLINCH THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP IN FOUR YEARS". SEABL.com.au. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  9. "Sanity prevails as Pioneers settle". BotiNagy.com. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  10. "Mount Gambier Pioneers to play in Premier League basketball competition in 2019". AdelaideNow.com.au. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  11. "Results for 2019 Premier League Men – Grand Final". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  12. "NEW FRANCHISE UPDATE – MT GAMBIER ANNOUNCE BID". nznbl.basketball. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  13. "AUSTRALIA'S MOUNT GAMBIER DENIED ENTRY INTO NZNBL". nznbl.basketball. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  14. McCallum, Jordan (15 October 2019). "Mount Gambier Pioneers to enter NBL1 in 2020". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
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