The Body and Mind Kent Crusaders basketball coach Jesse Sazant has announced that he will step down as coach of the Crusaders senior team.

The Canadian Coach, who became the senior side’s coach in 2004, will be replaced by the Crusaders’ assistant coach Mads Olesen, originally from Denmark.

Sazant, who has become a director of basketball with the Crusaders, has vowed to remain heavily involved in the development of the sport in Kent, however he felt that he was no longer able to devote the amount of time to the squad necessary to realise the team’s long term ambitions:

“It was incredibly tough to decide to step down as Crusaders head coach. The club is something I have played a major part in building and felt that I couldn’t find the time to meet the high standards I expect.”

Since he came to England seven years ago Sazant, a primary school teacher, has played a big role in developing basketball in Kent. He took over as junior coach at Crusaders soon after arriving in the UK. Sazant was named the EBL Division 3 South East Coach of the Year last season after the Crusaders gained promotion to the EBL Division 2. Sazant finishes his stint as the Crusaders coach with a 43-33 record.

The former coach’s new role will concentrate on developing the Crusaders infrastructure and elite development pathways for Kent, indeed it his role in developing talent while at the Crusaders which Sazant says he is most proud of: “The biggest reward for me has been seeing players develop at all levels: from Ryan Richards and Robbie Parker going to Europe to Pete Ayling coming from local league basketball to be a major contributor.” Adding. “I’m excited about my new role. There is a lot of work to do in developing the club so we can reach the level we aspire to. Things like the academy are a big step in the right direction.”

Mads Olesen, who joined the Crusaders in 2005 as assistant coach, was an assistant coach for Kristiansand Pirates in the highly competitive Norwegian top division. Olesen is currently a community basketball coach based at Ursuline College in Thanet.

Olesen admits he will have a tough job on his hands stepping into Sazant’s shoes. “Succeeding a successful coach like Jesse Sazant is never easy, but I’ll try my best to move the team forwards towards our goal of eventually reaching the top of English basketball. I’ll look to stay with the things that has made the Crusaders a successful team in the past, while adding things that will make the team successful in the future.”

The new coach was quick to add that the work ethic instilled in the squad by Sazant was one of the things which made him confident that the Crusaders can push and achieve big things next season: “The Crusaders players are the hardest working bunch I’ve ever worked with, and with a few key additions I believe the team has a real chance of greatly improving on this year’s position in the league.”

This entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 am and is filed under Club News, Team News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.