[04 MAR 11] CRUSADER NEWS

Donaldson starts rebuilding process.

By Adam Manning, Crusaders press officer

Coventry Crusaders managing director Robert “Dip” Donaldson has revealed he will sit down with ever-present Crusaders coach Marcus Garvey “over the next few weeks” to plan out how the first-team will approach Division Four next season.

Donaldson has made assistant coach and Under-16 Boys head coach Garvey the point of contact for the senior side for the time being before they both discuss the coaching structure, especially the head coach’s position.

The 51-year old did reveal to Crusaders news that he has a list of candidates that have expressed an interest in coaching the team next year.

“I’m going to talk to Marcus first and see what his plans are for the coming season, but two have expressed an interest and I’ve yet to interview or discuss anything with them – both from State side over to England.

Hinting that Garvey will definitely play some sort of role next year, Donaldson explained: “He knows the heart and passion [to succeed] as anybody because he’s been there with me from day one, and besides Dip Donaldson he’s the guy.”

Another challenge the American faces before the Division Four campaign begins in October is attracting as many sponsors as possible. Subway is currently the team’s only real sponsor which supports the club’s Hoops4Health healthy living workshops in over 20 primary schools in Coventry and Warwickshire.

  Donaldson sends a message to the fans, and sells the club to potential sponsors. 

 

And while Donaldson admits Division Four basketball doesn’t sound great after so long in the upper echelons of National League, he sees it as a wake-up-call and knows what is needed to get the sponsors back on side: win games.

The club hasn’t won a trophy since the league and play-off double in 1994, and the last recent bit of success the seniors had was making the quarter finals of the Division One play-offs in 2005/6 when they lost 103-84 to Worthing Thunder.

Efforts to bring some success to the club were agonisingly close this season as Roger Payne’s men, which included American power forward Casey Crawford who top-scored for Crusaders in all ten games he played, lost three home games by one point and another game by two. In the end the team bowed out of Division One with a 3-10 record.

“The results were close but they weren’t wins” stated Donaldson, who played in a Crusaders jersey up until the age of 46. “Back in the hey-day our support has always been the greatest when the team has been successful - then the sponsors follow.”

“Coventry supporters deserve a winner, expect a winner and support a winner but when you’re struggling you can’t blame the paying public for not showing up, and that’s your key sponsor right there.”

So how does the MD set about a successful team in place before the sponsors come calling? 

“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, relating to the Under-18 and Under-16 sides where youngsters such as point guard Billy Paronia, Callum Lawson and Jonathan Egid have been developing nicely.

“We might 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.”

And while Division Four holds less quality compared to Divison One, Donaldson sees it as the best way to start a team all over again just like in 1992 that eventually flourished into 19 years of longevity.

“The bad thing with Division Four is it doesn’t sound good media-wise. The good thing is we haven’t been playing great basketball anyway at the top level. We’ve probably been operating at Division Two pace both commercially and performance wise where we’ve struggled to get results.”

“We started a club from the beginning in 1992 so we can start again, but this time we have 19 years of experience of good, bad and ugly. We’ve won championships, finished bottom, been relegated and folded a team but we’re still a National League side and the longest serving management group in English basketball.”

To contact Dip, email him on dip@crusaders.co.uk

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