2008 was the first season with the newly appointed teacher, Jose Carlos, at the helm. This meant adjusting to a new coach, a new system and the usual crop of players leaving and new talent coming through the ranks. There were a few stutters in our first game of the season, and unfortunately this ultimately meant that we could not progress to the national round of the competition.
Nevertheless, we have progressed since then and in the friendlies we have played we have managed to show our worth. In our last game, a friendly against Hillingdon International School, we rallied from behind with less than three minutes to go to eventually win the game by three points in what was a real nail-biter. We have also been entered into the Jubilee cup which may yet allow us to add some silver-ware to the cupboard. I must also commend the under 15s who are the only team still to be in the competition and have managed to reach the quarter finals of the national competition.
As always, Culham’s support has been immense and unequalled, and I can’t urge everyone enough to continue to come to as many games as they can. A major new addition this season has been the acquisition of a huge drum by some of the fans. If we can continue this support and start putting a run of wins together, teams will really start to fear playing us at our home court.
Training sessions are always fun, hard work and extremely exhausting. Everyone has made huge improvements, both as a team and individually. This is mainly due to the tremendous effort Coach Carlos puts into every training session. He sometimes even joins in on the scrimmages when we are a man short or he just wants a work out. It can be a little awe inspiring playing against an ex-professional player because there is really nothing that he can’t do on the basketball court. However the experience of playing with him is invaluable, not to mention the immense satisfaction you feel when you occasionally get one up on him.
Coach C, as he is known to the players, believes in making The European School into a basketball dynasty. There is no doubt in his or anyone else’s mind that he will succeed. His passion, dedication and knowledge of the game are unrivalled. It is a shame that I and other 7th years will not be able to be part of his plans. In fact, a few of us have even considered failing the year on purpose so we could spend another season playing for Coach Carlos but will probably go to university instead. However, we all wish him and the rest of the team the best of luck in the future and will definitely return to show our support.
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